Laila Irene Johansen's Birthday

The past week has been filled with lots of unexpecteds, including some self pity, and then Saturday came and I was feeling really frustrated with how things were going.  Then I told Brian, I have prayed about today and know that this is how God meant today to go and this was the day he decided our baby will be born, so I will accept that his plan is better than mine.   By the end of the day I was rewarded in that everything was perfect, better than I could have hoped for.  God is good!

So this is a summary of the week and why I was not a happy camper Saturday morning.  I had grand plans to get a lot done in preparation for baby that week.  I even arranged for Myann and Anders to go to school a couple of extra days so I could have all day to get things done.  Monday night was car shopping, not fun, but had to be done. We noticed the refrigerator not working right so we called appliance repair and they planned to come Tuesday.   Then Tuesday I met with repair guy who could not fix it, but planned to return Wednesday afternoon. I did fit in 2 hours of shopping while Shane was at a sea animal dissection camp at the mall. Awesome 2 hours.  Wednesday was my first day to get things done, but most of the time was spent at a doctor's appointment and grocery shopping and then meet appliance guy.  He said he fixed it. Yeah!  Then Wednesday night we noticed it not cooling, so first thing Thursday morning I called and they said appliance guy would be here at noon. I felt optimistic, so I dropped Shane off at Camp Reed, dropped kids at school and did my Costco shopping, of course filling up fridge. Repair guy arrives and said fridge was DOA, could not be fixed. Time to get a new one.  So I frantically ran out the door to try to find a fridge before I had to get kids from school.  I did get an idea, but realized we had way more choices than I knew so I needed to talk with Brian. Friday is my last day, I had so many plans, but I had to go to several appliance places and get a fridge that could be delivered within a day.  By 1pm, I had picked a fridge that would be delivered the following night. For the next 2 kidless hours, I washed sheets and cleaned up to prepare for family's arrival the next night.

July 30th, I slept great, 7 consecutive hours, the most I could remember sleeping in a while. I got out of bed when I noticed a trinkling down my leg.  I think I knew what it was, but I refused to accept it, so I slapped on a maxipad and told Brian I was fine, but there was a chance my water was broken or in the process.  My dilemma was that we had to pick Shane up from Camp Reed.  I really wanted to be there, but Brian was concerned about me being in labor and an hour from town.   I called my doctor and she expressed the same concern and insisted that I go to the hospital that afternoon at the latest.  I called my friend Sheryl, who was going to pick up her daughter as well, and warned her of my situation in case we did not make it there, would she pick up Shane.  We hopped in the car at 8:45 am and drove an hour to Camp Reed. So happy to see Shane, who was upset because he lost his tooth that morning and actually lost the tooth.  We assured him that we would leave the tooth fairy a note and he would still get paid for his tooth.  Brian is pretty anxious the whole time there wanting to grab Shane and go, but I wanted to do the full experience.  So we stayed for the parent program and then had to cash out his store credit.  Finally we left at 10:35pm, and hurried home to meet the refrigerator delivery guys. We got home and the delivery guys arrived 5 minutes later.  I had planned to go to the hospital and get checked, but I wanted to make sure the fridge was as I hoped.  Plus, I was becoming more convinced that once I went to the hospital, I was not leaving.  Refrigerator delivered - check, Shane picked up - check, now I needed to stall long enough for my mom and Danielle to arrive by plane. They were already in the air, so I only needed to get us to 8pm.  We arranged for our sitter Sierra to come stay with the kids while Brian and I went to the hospital.  Then our friends the Kipps would come that evening, to pick up my family from the airport and be with the kids until my family arrived. At about 4pm I started to feel contractions, so I knew we needed to get to the hospital. I was so disappointed that I would not have my doctor deliver the baby and that my family may not make it in time, but decided that I had prayed about it and it was in God's hands.

We arrived at the hospital and they began accessing me. I explained about who my doctor was and that I wished she could be there, but understood she was not on call. I also explained that my family was in the air and I really wanted them there. Within 30 minutes my most amazing OB/GYN in the world poked her head around the corner. She said she happened to be working a 12 hour shift at the hospital.  She also quickly accessed that my water had broken and I was going to have this baby tonight.  We explained the flight situation, to which she went and checked the flight schedule. She said my family should be arriving early, she coordinated with another surgeon to do my c-section at 8:30, which gave my mom time to arrive, see me first, and prep for surgery.  I can not tell you the elation I felt and the smile that crossed my face knowing that God must have been having a good chuckle over my fretting all day about my doctor and my mom arriving in time. He knew all along that it was under control.  So my kids were be well cared for by friends who love them, and I was having my baby delivered by my most amazing doctor and my family would be there in time.  8:00pm, Brian arrived from the airport with my mom and Danielle.  I visited for a few minutes and then it was surgery prep time. Prep went great, all the staff was wonderful.

8:54pm, Dr. Smetana announced the birth of our baby girl.  I took one look and was so excited to see a gorgeous head of dark hair and the prettiest little girl.  She was healthy and prefect! An hour later I was holding and nursing my new baby girl. 36 hours later, Brian and I settled on her name and I was being released to go home.

Birth stats:
7lbs. 2 oz.
20 inches long
Laila was picked by Lexi and Danielle, and we settled on the spelling since it was Scandinavian and means dark haired beauty.
Irene is the name of Brian's maternal grandmother, with whom he was very close