I'll start with the labor which I actually quite enjoyed. Here's the timeline since no one can believe how smooth and quickly it all happened (especially me!):
- 5:30am - I woke up thinking maybe I peed on myself just a little (hey, it happens, especially late in pregnancy). Coming back from the restroom, I noticed my stomach was hard and woke up James to poke at it.
- 8:30am - James left for work at my insistence since I figured I was timing Braxton-Hicks contractions (30 sec each; 5 min apart) and I promised to call Dr. Jaffee and leave a message for the nurse (given that I figured it was a false alarm).
- 11:30am - Went into Dr. Jaffee's office and she confirmed that I probably did pee myself (hehe!) and could go home to wait for the real thing because my water had not broken, I was only 2-3cm dilated, and I was probably not officially in active labor yet. Then, she did a sonogram and changed her mind. I was told to go to the hospital NOW (and, no, I could not go home to shave my legs, eat my PB sandwich, or finish packing my hospital bag first).
Here's where it becomes a story to tell ... so I call James on his cell on my way to the hospital. No answer. I text him, but he doesn't return the message. I email him from my cell; nothing. Try his office number; he's changed extensions. Call again as I check into the hospital ... again, nada. As you can imagine, I'm thinking "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" (probably along with a few choice expletives).
- 12:00pm - I've been admitted to the hospital and STILL trying to reach James; finally, I decide to call John Burke, his boss, who hunts him down. I believe I said something to the effect of "everything is fine, but I'm at the hospital about to have James' baby in case he wants to come". Apparently James had re-started his iPhone (something about downloading new ring tones?) and it didn't turn back on correctly. Luckily, my relief outweighed the disbelief ... James was on his way!
- 1:00pm - Dr. Jaffee breaks my water ("bag of waters"; how weird). By this time, my contractions are getting pretty strong, are about 3-4 min apart, and still about 30 sec each
- 1:30pm - I get my epidural ... happiness and contentment follow ... quickly followed by James' arrival. Lucky guy missed all the pain! I wonder if it was just coincidence ... hmmm .... My nurse Jill tells me that I'm 3-4 cm dilated, and a typical first baby averages an hour or an hour and a half per cm, so we're thinking 6-8 more hours. I settle in for the long haul.
- 3:30pm - Jill checks me again and is amazed. Apparently now I'm 100% dilated and ready to push! Whoa ... I'm almost a mom!
- 4:30pm - We start pushing to get ready for Dr. Jaffee to deliver. 1, 2, 3, 4 sets of pushes later, the nurse says STOP! We need to wait for Dr. Jaffee! To coin a phrase from Daphne, it's like having a very uncomfortable turtle head, but I'll do what I need to do!
- 5:00pm - Dr. Jaffee arrived, suited up, said PUSH! 2 pushes and 14 minutes later, Claire was here!
I'm not sure if it's because I had built up the whole labor thing in my head so big that it seemed so scary, or maybe it really is that scary but the epidural dulled the pain, but the whole birthing thing was quite a memorable and special experience. Immediately afterwards, I thought "man, I can do THAT again", although I'm not so far removed from the last 3-4 weeks of pregnancy to really want to do THAT part again quite yet. :)
Hmmm ... I think I'll cover pregnancy thoughts and post-partum adventures in the next postings.
Check out Claire's blog for more news and pics!
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