This post is titled a short story because it so accurately describes my labor and Henry's birth. So, without further ado I give you Henry's birth.
On Friday I went in for some testing, which I wrote about
here. My tests were all good so I did not need to go to the hospital and be induced that day, but I had an appointment to be induced Monday morning if the baby didn't show on his own over the weekend. I wished as hard as I could all weekend for labor to start. Unfortunately labor doesn't work that way. I am now completely convinced that there is no way to get labor started (short of
pitocin, the drug they use to induce), you just have to wait. Anyway, on Sunday I had given up. We hung out with my parents for the afternoon, then we had hot dogs and corn on the cob with my parents and Dave's parents up at the farm. While we were there Todd, our farrier/horse trainer/riding instructor showed up to trim the horse's and donkeys' hooves. Also, Freddy got stung by wasps three times on his knee. I was a little freaked out about that because he had never been stung before but he handled it better than I would have. After dinner I kissed and hugged the kids goodbye, without crying in front of them, and they went home with
Oma and Grandpa.
Dave and I went home resigned to going in for an induction in the morning. I gathered up the last of my things and set the alarm clock for 5:45, since I was supposed to call the hospital at 6. I went to bed fairly early and slept fine...until 3:00.
At 3:00 I was woken up by a painful contraction. I got up, went to the bathroom then went back to bed. I did not think it was the real thing, I had had so many other false starts. I had a couple more contractions so I decided to get up and see what would happen. I had a few more and I had just started to time them when Dave got up. They were about 7 minutes apart then, so Dave went to take a shower. By the time he was done they were about 5 minutes apart so I went to take a shower. I had planned on having a relaxed time in the morning so I took my time in the shower, I even shaved my legs (which in hindsight might not have been a great choice). While I was in I decided that maybe Dave should come in and time my contractions. They were quite strong and regular at this point, I had to set down my razor and focus on them, yet I still felt no need to rush. (This is all very funny to me now, Dave not so much.)
Once I got of the shower I decided to call the midwife. I spoke with the answering service then went to brush my teeth, still having frequent strong contractions. This whole time Dave is trying to hurry me up. He seemed to think contractions two minutes apart was reason to leave for the hospital. By the time I got downstairs I decided we should leave for the hospital and not wait for the midwife to call back, she was calling my cell anyway. She did call just as we were walking out and I told her we were on our way, she said, in a sleepy voice, "Okay. See you when you get here."
As I was getting in the car I texted Kim to ask her to let the dog out before work. Then we were off. Dave felt that he should drive quickly and by the time we were in the next town over I was telling him he should drive fast. My contractions were very painful at this point, especially because I was stuck in the car so I couldn't move around. Somewhere along the way I remember telling him "by the way,when we get there I want drugs...if it isn't too late to get them!" By the time we were on the highway I was squeezing his arm very very hard during my very frequent contractions. I also yelled at him sometime on the ride about "wasn't he supposed to be talking me through these contractions?!?" He replied that at the speed he was driving he had to concentrate on the road, but I think he threw in a "you're doing a good job, we'll be there soon."
If I hadn't known how close we were to the hospital I think I would have died. We were about a mile away when I started feeling the urge to push. I panted and did every other breathing thing I could remember.
We pulled up in front of the hospital and I tell Dave to run in and get someone to help. He hesitated about leaving me alone outside in front on the hospital in the dark but I told him to "go!" I leaned on the pillar at the entryway of the hospital but then realized that I had to get inside so I waddled my way in. Meanwhile, Dave goes in and no one is in the lobby so he has to take the elevator up a floor to maternity. The woman at the desk there tells him that there should be a security guard downstairs to help, and he tells her there isn't she needs to get a nurse "now!" He comes back down and helps me towards the elevator (by the way he somehow managed to grab my bags and take them with him upstairs). He is panicking and I am moaning and panting while we wait for the elevator to come back down. The life safer here is that when the doors opened there were nurses inside.
I tell them that the baby is coming "now, right now!!!" They asked if my water broke and I said "no, wait yes right now." They walk me down the hall, all the way down to the end for some reason, and help me onto a bed. Then I started pushing. The midwife walked in a minute after I did, and I guess all this happened really fast but it felt like a long time to me. I remember one of the nurses trying to get the heartbeat monitor to pick up the baby's heartbeat but then another nurse told her not to bother he was already crowning. So a few minutes later, which felt like a lifetime to me, Henry was born. He took a quick minute to start crying and they were about to worry but then he started wailing. I was still wearing my t-shirt, and I had my beautiful baby boy Henry at 5:14am.
To end my short story that didn't turn out to be all that short, I will recap the timeline for you. First contraction: 3:00am, Text to Kim as we are leaving our house: 4:43am, Henry's birth: 5:14am!!!!!!
Mapquest says it should take 26 minutes to get from our house to the hospital, Dave drove about 90mph on the highway portion of the trip. I have decided that I owe a big thanks to Dave's Uncle Gary and cousin Jim for all the years of stock car racing they did together.
Henry is doing great! He is eating like a champ and sleeping very well for a newborn. He is adorable and the kids love him. So far Henry has been to three parties, the pediatrician, the farm, and to Crossroads Day (our town's annual festival). That could account for his sleeping well. :) Needless to say I am very tired, and still a bit sore. Now that I have properly updated the blog I am off to bed.
