Right now, my life consists of sitting around doing nothing but reading and waiting to have a baby that is not due for another month! Since my mind is full of speculation about what will happen this time around, I have decided to write about each of the babies that I have brought into this world. I have never actually written any of these stories down on paper and I know I have forgotten many things that I was sure I would never forget about the day my kids were born.
So it's long, and may be boring for some, but one day my kids will be grateful that I wrote it somewhere, and so will I.
When we first talked about having a baby, I was not ready. I didn't really like to be around kids, so why would I want to have one to take care of. However, our friends had a little boy that I loved to have over. I even went out and bought some toys for him to play with when he was at our house, and I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if my kid were to be like him.
At first being pregnant was no different than not being pregnant. Though, I did fall asleep at work more often than before. It took forever for me to feel like I was actually carrying a baby. All I wanted was to be able to wear maternity clothes, and then I found out that they were kind of ugly. I was so excited when I could finally feel the baby move - then it became real.
For some reason I was hoping for a girl. So when we found out that I was having a boy, I cried for just a second. I grew up with two sisters and didn't know anything about boys. When I would go shopping, I would find such cute clothes for girls, and not nearly as many for baby boys. I'm glad that we decided to find out what the baby was, because it gave me plenty of time to get used to having a boy - soon I was so excited about it!
Together Steve and I read all about what it would be like to be pregnant. We took a New Parent class and a Birthing class. During the last trimester, everything that happened was new and exciting - I wasn't even thinking about being induced or wishing the baby would come early. We bought all of the necessary baby items. We put the crib together as soon as we bought it - way too early, but it was a nice storage place for all of the clothes and diapers and such that we collected throughout the pregnancy.
I think that Jonathon was due on March 28th. At my 36 week check, I was already dilated to a three. "You are ready, it could be any day now" - Doctors who say this should be shot! Even though she added that I probably wouldn't go early, the words were already out there. So we just waited - wondering, could it really be any day?
The next week, the doctor talked to us about being induced, but I didn't want to mess with nature. Later, I did make an appointment to be induced on the 28th, because I couldn't imagine going over my due date - even though I was happy to let nature take it's course, I was also getting very uncomfortable, and it was difficult to sleep. Little did I know that this lack of sleep was practice for having a newborn at home.
So each night we went to bed hoping that we would somehow have a baby before morning, and each morning we were disappointed. I stopped working 3 weeks before he was due, because I really didn't feel like working anymore, and I was sure that any day now would be sooner rather than later. I was very bored for a couple of weeks.
Steve read that I needed to do more walking - that it would help trigger labor. Like I wanted to walk everywhere carrying an extra 40lbs! We headed out one night to get Chinese food for dinner - walking of course. I am always in the mood for Sweet and Sour Chicken, but there must be something about being pregnant - I could probably eat it every day. I'm sure I ate too much too, I always do. There must not have been room for all of that chicken and a baby, because when I headed to bed that night I finally went into labor.
It was definitely a shock - half way asleep when the baby kicked so hard that the bed shook, and there was a loud "POP"! Even though we had read about it a million times, I was not sure what was going on. Did my water break? Now what? I can't say that there was panic - we were just not sure if it was actually happening. What about pre-labor? Wasn't I supposed to have like a back ache, and some early contractions that were not consistent? We called the hospital, and lucky for us the nurse who taught our birthing class was on duty. She said we should head on down, and they would check things out. It wasn't really until we were in the car that the contractions started. But they came quick - they were already 5 min apart.
I was actually in labor! I had decided that I was tough, and I could do this whole thing naturally. However, the contractions were pressing my tailbone in a direction that I'm sure it's not supposed to go. I was in actual real pain! Not the kind of pain that other women have during labor - I was sure that mine was worse! Then I threw up all of that Sweet and Sour Chicken - gross! I was miserable and decided that even though the epidural video said that there was a slight chance that I could be paralysed for life, it was a risk worth taking.
Things were nice and calm after that. I think we even both fell asleep for a while. Not for long though, because we were quite excited about finally getting our little boy here.
I'm pretty sure that my water broke around 11pm. We were admitted to the Hospital around midnight. I think I lasted for about an hour until I got an epidural around 1am. I'm not sure what time it was when things got hectic. The nurse came in to check me and said it was time to start pushing. After a while, she checked again, and found out that the baby was posterior. Steve knew what that meant, but I had no clue. I still don't know if that meant nose up or nose down, but the nose was not where it was supposed to be.
As life usually works out, my doctor was out of town. So even though she promised me that she would be there and not some on call doctor, she was wrong. The on call doctor came in and turned the baby the right way, and before I could even start pushing again, that little guy turned back. Looking back now, I feel that this was the first sign of how things were going to be with this kid. So we tried it again, the doctor turning the baby simultaneously with me and the nurses on either side of me pushing.
Amazing!
We had a new baby boy.
He was born at 6:16 am.
It was Sunday, March 23rd 1997.
He was 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long.
We named him Jonathon Steven.
