BIRTH STORY

My husband could sleep through anything...tornadoes, hurricanes, nuclear holocaust, you name it. So it didn't really come as a shocker when my urgent whisper of "Honey, I think I'm in labor" was met with a "oh...okay....wake me up if you have the baby".  It had started the night before when I had foolishly decided that a last minute shopping trip to Jefferson City (2 hours away, mind you) was in my best interest.  About three-fourths of the way there, I began to have STRONG contractions.  I panicked. Matt repeated every thirty seconds "Do you think it's labor?".  When we finally arrived in Jeff City and I was able to stand up and walk around, they eased up....but didn't go away.  That night was dreadful for me--we're talking zero sleep and a baby that furiously kicked his way through every blasted contraction.  When Matt arose, fresh as a daisy, the next morning ready for work, I looked like a zombie.  "7 minutes apart...calling doctors office when they open", I muttered.  I didn't want to wake the doctor....what can I say, I'm a nice person!  Promptly at 9 AM I called in to Dr. Debbi's office where I spoke with a terribly unconcerned nurse who instructed me to "come in sometime soon".  I called Matt and he rushed home to take me to the office. We loaded up the bag that I had packed roughly around month 4 and were on our way. Dr. Debbi did a cervix check and told me that I was 100% effaced and 3 cm dilated (I think...the whole day is a bit foggy now. No sleep does that to you). She told us to go walk around Wal-Mart.  Oh joy of joys. 

After a glorious hour of suffering through contractions in the middle of Wal-Mart we headed back to the doctor's office. I waited about 25 minutes for her to return from lunch (yeah, that was lovely. I had not eaten anything all day b/c I didn't want to...ahem..."release" the digested food in labor).  Now I was 4 cm dilated....off to the hospital!

Once at the hospital, I was issued a lovely gown and asked the same questions at least 25 times. Then I was given an IV. Somewhere in here, Dr. Debbi broke my water and I was given an epidural.  Then more fog.  Then it was time to push. 

Apparently, my baby had a big head. I pushed for two hours before the doctor even showed up at the hospital. When she got there, she had me push for 45 minutes more and THEN she decided I had suffered enough to have an episiotomy. I pushed for 15 more minutes, and then Caleb was born. I felt relief...and overwhelming hunger and exhaustion. Then I noticed my baby wasn't crying. "Why isn't he crying?" I asked a nurse frantically. They were putting an oxygen mask on his tiny face. I looked at my husband. He looked shocked and scared. I repeated my question. "He will cry" a nurse assured me. Just then I heard the tiniest whimper. They moved the oxygen mask aside. He whimpered softly. "He's fine", the doctor said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My new family.