I shaved my legs. Because that's important. I mean how many people were going to be close enough to notice if I hadn't... And yes, it was on my morning to do list.
I called the hospital at 6 and was told to come on up - at that point we woke the kids up, and wouldn't you know it - it got crazy from there. Max had an accident in his bed, he hasn't in over a year - so instead of just bringing the kids in jammies - we rushed to bathe Max, start laundry, clean the mattress, get everything in the car and get the kids to Grandma's and get to the hospital, in about 40 minutes. We made it - barely.
On the way to Mike's parents Grace was still not wanting the baby, still making rude comments, still wishing he wasn't coming to our family. Not the greatest send off. Max was more than excited - and I could only hope and pray Grace would come around.
We got checked in and they had Mike wait in the waiting room while they took me back, had me change and started getting me hooked up to monitors and then asked if Mike beat me. Don't you love the questions they "have" to ask without your spouse being there? For those of you who don't know, it's a series of questions about abuse, drugs and alcohol.
After that they brought Mike in, my doctor came in and broke my water, informed me that I was still only at a 1 (this after being told I was almost at a 2, three weeks ago) and to let them know when I wanted my epidural. Which I WANTED. Truthfully, with Max they broke my water and gave me an epidural all in about 5 minutes, I didn't feel anything with Max and that was how I wanted it with Bennett. But - I had to wait, at least for a while.
They started me on platocin and my contractions began almost immediately. Within an hour I was ready for the epidural, I don't like pain. I was born in a day of age of medicine for good reason! Bring on the drugs. The nurses told me I could have the epidural then, or wait until after a c-section, was that even a question? I got the epidural, it worked great, and quickly. The nurses checked me at that point and I was still at a 1. An hour later I was at a 5. And I was pleased! Grace's labor was 26 hours, Max's was less than 6 hours, I was hoping for a little faster than Max's. But right after I was told I was at a 5 our baby's heart rate dropped, they had to turn off the platocin and put me on oxygen. They told me he rebounded after the contractions good, so they didn't think I needed a c-section, but during contractions it dropped too low and they needed to stabilize him before they could turn the drugs on again.
After about an hour baby's heart looked good and they turned back on the juice. An hour past, I was at a 5. Another hour past and I was at a 5. This happened for several hours. 6 hours came and went, and I wasn't even close. 8 hours came and I was still at a 5. At 9 1/2 hours I felt a lot of pressure, but I was hesitant to call the nurse. If she checked me and I was only at a 5 I was going to cry. After 10 minutes of debating I pushed the call button and she Sherrie my nurse came in - she checked me and got a smile - she said 10! You are ready to push! I don't know what happened to 6, 7, 8, or 9 - but who cares?
I started pushing, and I pushed and I pushed and pushed. To make a long story short, this continued on for over two hours. At which point she called my doctor - when she showed up she asked what I'd been doing all day. She said she'd delivered 4 other babies that day, I was the first one to get started and the last one to deliver. Truthfully I really liked her, she is sarcastic, and tells it like it is. Which works great for me, other people may have a really hard time with her - but it didn't bother me at all.
When she checked me she said "Oh, that's not good, those are eyeballs. You're baby has turned face up and he's past the point of turning him - you are just going to have to push." The fact he turned didn't surprise me, most babies stay head down, but every appointment he was a different direction, he was a wiggle worm to the very end. We know he was in correct position when we started 12 hours earlier - at some point during the day he did a little dance and decided to make it hard on his mama.
Sparing the details I will just say that they said when a baby is born face down they hunch their shoulders and curl up into the smallest form possible to come out. When a baby is born face up they don't curl up, they dont' turn their shoulders in and thus it's a whole lot less fun. When he came out all I could think was thank goodness! He had some major bruising on his head, and a giant goose egg, but he was here, and he was perfect.
We are excited for this next phase of family life- the one where the kids out number the parents, the one where we return to interrupted nights, poopy diapers, and lots of laundry. We are blessed beyond words!
