Okay so where was I…

We drove the rest of the way to Lincoln and arrived in town about 3:30am. I texted Ethan and told him that Dad and I were in town now. We hadn’t heard anything since he’d said that they’d made it to the hospital and were in their room. We all had a lot of grace because there were certain details that we wanted to know but that a first time dad wouldn’t know to pass along and that first time grandparents wouldn’t know how to ask for. She was 6cm dilated when they arrived at the hospital.

Laura’s mom barely slept and was checking her phone throughout the night. I woke up around 6 or 6:24 feeling very tired and nauseous. I also checked my phone and saw nothing. I laid in bed and started crying. Everything was finally hitting me and didn’t quite know what it was that was happening, if I was remembering past births or if I was feeling it with Laura. I turned to my side and reached out for Josh’s arm, hugging it and crying into his shoulder. After a while it all felt better.

Around 7:15 I started checking in with the other big kids to let them know what had happened so far and to make sure everyone was up and moving for school. Then I checked in with Laura’s mom and asked her if she’d heard anything and told her we’d made it there about 3:30 and the last thing I’d heard from Ethan was that they were still chugging along over there. We exchanged prayer hand emojis and then no sooner had we finished when Ethan texted at 7:40 to let us know she was here.

We were overjoyed. I said “Baby is born!!” out loud to my husband and then texted the kids back immediately to tell them the same thing. It was all a whirlwind because we’d all been conversing not long at all before. Elianna was so shocked she didn’t know what was happening and the boys had just pulled out of the driveway. They’ve been being asked by the teachers every morning when they get there if they have any baby news. So I told them and they were able to tell the teachers as well.

Josh and I were sitting in bed and then we hugged. We didn’t feel a rush to get up to the hospital but were moving with that in mind. The hotel was under construction and every room and hallway was in the process of being completed. If you can even believe it, there was the temptation to be irritated. But we walked on by and through to the elevator where we rode down to get coffee and food. Having food, shelter, water, and a place to rest your head for sleep is an incredible positive.

We made it up to the 4th floor and found Laura’s parents in the waiting room. We waited a couple of hours for them to move Laura and the baby to another room where we could meet Lila and spend more time with the kids. We all were just sitting in there taking turns with the baby. Laura changed her first diaper and then later her second. I thought we were supposed to jump in as the Grandmas to change the her diaper until I realized she hadn’t done it before. So we watched while she did it.

The dads went out and got food for everybody and eventually Laura’s parents went back to the hotel for a little while. We stayed a little longer and Ethan and Laura continued to sleep. Ethan had to run in the evening so when we were leaving Laura’s parents were coming back to be with Laura while Ethan ran. Before he did that we took a nap and refreshed ourselves. We went for a walk around the hotel and nearby blocks around town. Even with this, the instinct to help your child doesn’t change.