Reagan's birth story

Reagan Lee was born on Saturday, April 16, 2011. I was awoken on Saturday morning at 5:00am with very light contractions. They were so light and infrequent I wasn't sure if they would go on for days or if this would be the day our second baby girl was born. At about 8:00am the contractions started to get more intense but were still about 10 minutes apart. I wanted to labor at home where I was most comfortable until the contractions got closer together. Nate went out to mow the lawn and I read books to Aubrey (Nana was there to help) enjoying a final time together with her as our "only child." By 8:30am the contractions got REALLY intense and I could tell my body was doing a lot of work during each one. I felt like I had  ran a marathonn after each contraction, but they were still inconsistent ranging from 5 to 10 minutes apart. This was strange to me because with Aubrey my contractions were not as intense early on but were consistently 2-3 minutes apart. In no rush, we finally decided to go to the hospital around 9:30am because Portsmouth Naval Hospital is about 40 minutes away and I heard the second child comes a lot faster (little did I know how true that would be!).

On the car ride to the hospital the contractions were still inconsistent but were even more intense and I started to feel a lot of pressure "down there". By the time I waddled halfway to the elevator I knew this baby was very close to coming because I started to feel like I needed to push. We got to the labor deck at 10:15am and Nate told them I felt like I needed to push so they rushed me into triage. The nurse said I was 9cm dilated and the next thing I knew doctors and nurses were rushing around like crazy people trying to get me hooked up to machines and ask me all the pre labor questions. At this point the urge to push was so strong but they kept telling me to hold her in until we got into the delivery room. In a lot of pain, I turned to the nurse and asked "can I get my epidural?" and she very sweetly said "honey there is no time, you are going to have a baby any second!". Three pushes later Reagan Lee was born at 10:49am. Good thing we left for the hospital when we did or Reagan would have been born in the car! Right away Nana brought Aubrey to the hospital to meet her new little sister. 

We consider Reagan our miracle baby because the Lord brought us through a bad car accident the Tuesday before she was born.  The Chevy Tahoe I was driving was totaled, on its side in a ditch, but my tummy had a bubble of protection and wasn't harmed at all. I was taken to the ER in an ambulance and Reagan and I were monitored most of the night.  Aubrey was in the car as well but didn't have a scratch on her (I swear by Britax car seats now!). It was a life changing event for me and really shook my world. The accident helped me during my contractions/labor because while I was in pain I just focused on how blessed I was to even be having this baby. It was such a sweet moment to hold Reagan in my arms for the first time, we love you little girl.