April 8th.2007.
feeling a little sad that our bundle of joy wasn't here yet, i started off easter in a lower than usual spirit. i had his outfit ready and even had bought him a special easter hat to wear. i was already at the point of being very uncomfortable and couldn't figure out what the little guy was waiting for!? ...deciding to just let it go...and let God...frankie, ava, and i headed off to church with my sister-in-law and my niece and my mother-in-law. after the service, we went to eat at Islands. it was a very special lunch and i was getting excited thinking that Trey would be here any day. immediately after lunch i started getting tired. nothing unusual, because i hadn't been sleeping very much at nite during that time. anyway, when we went home i went into ava's room & we were playing on her bed. i just remember getting so tired that i couldn't keep my eyes open & so i told her i was going to lay down for a few minutes. i fell asleep and woke up feeling nauseous. i took a shower & just relaxed for the rest of the nite. frankie & i always have a tradition of "date nite" being sunday nite...nothing major...we usually treat ourselves to a dessert & sit together to watch 'desperate housewives'. this was the first week in a long time that there was finally going to be a new one on, so we were very excited. of course, pretty much as soon as the show began, i started feeling what i thought might be contractions. it was definitely that crampy feeling i remember having with ava, but it had been so long that i just wasn't positive that i was actually going into labor...guess you could call that denial! well, we timed them and by the end of the show, we thought we should start packing ava's stuff. as i got to her room i started crying. it was such an overwhelming feeling. i can't explain exactly what emotion i had, a combination of so many. she was sound asleep, as sweet as could be...and i was standing there watching her, knowing that her life was about to change in so many ways. i looked around her room at all her baby pictures...thinking, "i can't believe how she's grown so fast". i laid next to her & just held her for a few minutes. she was my baby girl about to be a big sister! when i finally managed to compose myself, i finished packing her bags. then i thought i should get myself into the shower to see if things progressed and make myself feel more comfortable before going to the hospital. as i undressed i felt a huge urge to go "wee" so i sat on the toilet. as soon as i finished, i felt a big KICK! and then a burst of "water" came out. it was exactly 11pm. i knew then that this was really it. no turning back now. baby Trey was ready...our easter egg had hatched!
my mom came over and, after much discussion, convinced me that we needed to go to the hospital. i think i was going into shock, because i just didn't want to move before that. frankie had to take ava to my sister-in-law's house and pick up his mom. so, my mom offered to take me to the hospital. after we got in the car, my mom told me to let her know each time my contractions started & ended. they were literally 1 minute apart at that point & coming on stronger. back labor was also setting in and it was painful. my mom was thinking i was going to have the baby in her car! ...anyway, we made it to the hospital and my gal-pal (since 4th grade) was already there waiting for us. who does that- makes it to the hospital before the person in labor!? hahaha...well, we all went in and by the time they admitted me, i was getting contractions on top of each-other. the nurse even commented that she felt bad because i wasn't getting a break. 
i guess it worked out well, because that made my labor short. although, this is when things got tricky...i had to wait to get the epidural, because the dr. was in another surgery. but, if we waited too long, that may slow things down, etc. Also, the baby hadn't dropped and was turned the wrong way (which is why you have the back labor). Luckily, i was able to get the epidural around 2am (i think) and at that point i was dialated to 8cm. They do the epi differently now, only injecting a little bit at a time. So, this time around, i was able to actually feel where i was pushing but still have the pain taken away. The nurse seems to think i could have made it without the meds, but the back labor was just too much for me. At around 3am, he dropped and turned. It honestly was weird how it happened. Right on time and as if he knew what to do. We did 1 "practice push" because the nurse wasn't sure if i would be able to make it until my doctor got there. Dr. Lawrence walked in right after we finished that and we started getting ready to push for real. I pushed once, and then asked the nurse to explain to me again, because i felt like i was doing it wrong. After i did one more push (the right way) the head came out and the next push my beautiful baby boy was here!
I could really not have asked for a better delivery. my L&D nurse @ Hoag was amazing. we actually have the same b-day (4th of july)...which i thought was odd because i think i've only met one other person with that birthday. Her and i got along really well, and had the same sense-of-humor...she was just great!
