I had been having pre-labor contractions every 8-10 minutes for the past 3 weeks or so. Boy, let me tell you...that's annoying. Especially when you have a 3 year old to take care of. :) I had been taken off moderate bedrest and was 37 weeks along.
Jamie called to see how I was doing - I said fine, could be any time - be ready! The next morning I woke up about 5 am with some unpleasant contractions. Of course I'd been having these for a few weeks now so I tried to roll over and go back to sleep. These pains were a little more intense. I remember whining and moaning a little bit thinking that would wake up John, but nope - he was fast asleep. :) I paced around for 15-20 minutes or so and then woke up John and said I needed to make a decision about going to the hospital. These contractions were getting more difficult very quickly. We knew this would be a fast labor - the goal was to make it to the hospital in time...without an ambulance call. I called Jamie and Joe - of course I think Joe, the early riser was already awake. He said Jamie and their son Noah would be right over. Then I called the midwives and said I was on my way.
The contractions began getting very painful so John and I left our sleeping Katie and headed for the hospital. We knew Jamie would be there any minute and Katie couldn't get into TOO much trouble asleep. We got to the hospital and AGAIN had to wait at the check in desk. Now I say - what's the use of pre-registering if you're still going to have to wait 10 minutes to go in?? I was waiting for someone to come from labor and delivery to wheel me upstairs. They wouldn't let John wheel me and they wouldn't walk. So John went and parked the car and I leaned on the check in desk moaning. People that walked by didn't say anything - it was pretty obvious why I was there. Another older lady that was in the back rushed up and asked if I needed help. "Just waiting for help!!" I yelled. Finally a young girl came down with a wheelchair and we were off. They took me to the monitoring area, but as soon as the midwife saw me she said there's no use staying here - we need a delivery room. We got to the delivery room, popped in my pre-made labor CD loaded with wonderful Pearl Jam songs and set in to have a baby.
I didn't ask for pain medication this time because I knew there was no time. The pushing was intense, and far more difficult than with Katie. Afterwards we found out that was because Will was 2 1/2 pounds BIGGER than their estimation. When we first arrived at the hospital I had a little blonde chippie of a nurse that was probably 19 and weighed all of 90 pounds. During each contraction she would utter "You got this...you go girl." Oh God. If that's all you have to offer - we're in trouble. Fate must have sensed my annoyance because another nurse came in to tell Blondie that her shift was over, but she could stay on through this delivery if she wanted to. Thank the LORD she decided to leave, and a WONDERFUL nurse took her place and offered just the right encouragement. A little under 1 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital Will was born at 7:31 am. I could barely hear my music CD during labor, but the CD shut off just after they laid Will on my stomach. Which means Will was born to Yellow Ledbetter. :) This time around it was calmer and crazier at the same time, but one I would live again in a second. After Will was born, all I could muster to say over and over again was "no more babies...no more babies...no more babies..." Nurse Wonderful just said "Oh honey, there's no more in there, you don't have to have any more!"
We took all 8 1/2 pounds of Will home a day later and have been able to keep him alive for an entire year. :)
I got a cute children's CD at the library last week - the Johnny Cash Children's Album. There is a duet with June Carter called "I Got A Boy And His Name Is John." As most of you know, Will's full name is John William, Dad's name is John, and Grandpa Pladsen's name was John. Here are just a few lyrics...they are too cute.
I got a boy and his name is John
You ought to see little John tag along
Going where his Daddy goes
Learning what his Daddy knows.
He's got a friend and her name is Kay (Thought this said Katie the first time!!)
And Kay goes with him everyday
Gonna take Kay along
Gonna teach Kay this song.
1 comment:
He's still your little chunky monkey. And I do think it's awesome that he was born to Yellow Ledbetter. You go girl! ;-p
Love to ALL of you.
Post a Comment