Due Date

This pregnancy was different from the beginning. I did not get sick. I was tired but that was because I was working 3 jobs, revamping my moms house, running 3 kids around and readjusting to the Mesa summers. We (loosely defined as Hattie) decided not to find out the gender of the baby. So the one and only ultrasound (I think I have had at least 3 with each of my other children) the tech turned off the screen when it was gender time. We suspected it was a monkey. I had some doctor problems with this pregnancy too. I started with the wrong insurance for the midwife that delivered Nellie. So I picked a doctor that was close by. Her office was in the parking lot at Banner Desert. About the time that I switched insurances and was planning on switching doctors also this doctor stopped seeing patients. One appointment she was working there and the next she no longer practiced medicine. I switched to the midwife I believed her office was at the same place. Not so, she changed doctors she works with and is now in down town Phoenix at St. Joe's. Worth the drive, I thought, till I needed to make my next 3rd to final appointment and found out she was going to be out of town till after my due date. Not worth the drive if she isn't even there. So I stressed for two days over who I could get to do a VBAC for me and where? At this point if the person was covered by my insurance and promised not to cut me open I was good. So, all my other children were early (Sam and Nellie were induced 4 and 2 weeks early, Keaton came on his own one week early.) I didn't expect to make it completely to my due date but I was going to try. I thought that the 11th would be a nice day and an 8 lb baby would be healthy and strong. Well 3 weeks ago all that was decided for me.

I woke up at 3 am thinking that if I had to go potty one more time I wouldn't have anything left for days. So I got up and got a drink and decided to check my email. The contractions were pretty persistent. So I checked 'signs of pre-term labor' online. They suggested watching a movie and relaxing to help the contractions go away. I couldn't even sit through the previews. I didn't think "this is it" yet. I was just restless. I thought a shower would be nice. I started timing the contractions in the shower. They were 3 minutes apart. About 3:40 I woke up Justin, thinking that if I was awake he should be too. After that it seemed to get really uncomfortable, really fast. I told him to call my sister to come sit with the kids. She is only 3 blocks away and her kids go to the same school. I thought it would work out well. 12 times calling her on both of her phones later we gave up and called my wonderful brother-in-law Jon. (Again 4 in the morning is not a time to try to figure out who to bother, we weren't thinking otherwise we would have woken up the neighbors) Jon's loverly wife helped to push him out the door and plenty of green lights and 3 red lights later he was at our driveway. We hopped in the car (about 4:30am). (More like crouched and grimaced into the car) Here was the choice, do we drive all the way to Phoenix and hope my doctor wasn't already out of town (I don't know if you've been to St Joe's but it is a maze. I was pretty sure that if we picked this option it would take 30 minutes to drive there, and an additional 30-40 to find out where we needed to be.) or go to the closest hospital and pray the anesthesiologist is waiting at the door for me. It was the closer option.

Justin drove up to the door. I got out and walked in. I pushed the automatic door button to the maternity floor. As the door opened a contraction started. I saw a nurse down the hall. I couldn't move. The nurse watched me and then the door started to close. She moved closer and pushed the button again so it would open. Th contraction ended I said, "I am having a VBAC, and I want an epidural." Yeah everyone says that. Well when she checked me I was already at a ten. (Did I mention that at my doctors appointment 7 days earlier there was no sign that the baby would come any time soon) This meant no epidural, no nothing. Not even a Tylenol. I love the epidural guy. Each one has a special place in my heart. I had reserved a spot in my heart for the new one that would be inducted, next to the others. Well there is an empty hole in my emotional well being. (I think that the nurses should lie to you. You know it could take the guy an hour or more to come to your rescue. If she would have lied to me I think it would have been better for me. Here is what they need to say, "He is on his way dear, he needs to finish up in surgery first. It'll just be a minute (what laboring woman can tell time anyway)") Good news, because I had started out the pregnancy with the doctor that went out of business they called someone she works with to come catch the baby. I had already done some of the paperwork early on. The doctor came in. Yelled at me and at 5:01 I had a baby. Justin was the first to say, "It's a boy."

He was a little purple and had the cord around his neck and shoulder. He soon pinked up and was very content with the world. He is a very good baby. He took the binkey and got the hang of it quickly. His brothers and sister just adore him. Everyone is very proud that he is part of our family.

That is the story. I was always jealous of my sisters labors. They seemed to go so quickly and she was always so brave (never having the epidural). I thought if it went that quickly I could do it too. Well, been there done that, don't need to do it again.