drew's story [a long post].

i will try to make this as brief as possible, while including all the details.  i'm actually kind of doing this for myself because i don't want to forget any of it!  thing is, a little piece of me is sad the labor and delivery is over.  in the moment, i couldn't w a i t for it to be over, but now....i want to go back.  and it boggles my mind that she's been ours for over a week now.  scary how time can stand still and fly all at once.

her story | so, my in-laws were kind enough to come over the evening of june 2nd to spend the night and then spend all day on sunday, the 3rd, helping to deep clean our house.  that evening, we made a bon fire and relaxed before going to bed around 11 ish [i had just taken the procardia]. at some point in the evening, my father.in.law said "you can't go into labor tonight, i need some good sleep".  he should have knocked on wood.  i remember that as soon as i got in bed, i felt a "pop" in my belly.  i kind of thought that it was weird, but thought maybe it was a different kick or something.  i fell asleep, and then about 15 minutes later i wake up to....a gush.  i thought to myself, "certainly, i did not just pee myself that much".  then, my heart started racing because i knew exactly what it was.  i turned on the light and woke jake up.

jake was just a little out of it!!  he just stared at me for a little bit and then asked if i was okay.  to which i replied, "are you okay?  we need to go to the hospital!"  he woke up my in.laws to let them know that this was the real thing and i called my doctor to explain the situation.  we had originally planned on delivering at a brand new hospital really close to our house, but my ob wanted me to go to a hospital with a nicu [just in case].  so off we went.  oh, but don't worry...first we had to pack that bag that we never packed and...get gas.

and the contractions begin...

i tried timing them on my way to the hospital, but then i gave up and i realized that it might not matter since my water broke.  at this point, the contractions were slightly worse than menstrual cramps and definitely manageable.  we got to the hospital and had to do some serious walking because the main entrance was closed.  upon entering, we had to pick up a red phone, like you see in the movies, and talk to some voice somewhere in the air so we could be let in.  it was funny to hear jake fumble his words a bit; "hi.  my wife is, well...in labor and we need in".  so we gain "access", make the long trek to the side of the hospital we need and then up to labor and delivery.  all the while, contracting more and feeling like the baby could not have been any lower.

getting to the hospital late at night is odd.  this is the second time we've done this [remember the false alarm].  we approached the nurses station and they all happened to be eating.  they looked at me with full mouths and said, "can we help you?".  to which i replied, "i am fairly certain my water broke".  jess [who turned out to be the sweet sweet wonder nurse] hopped up and said, "let's go check things out".  and we were off to room 12.

unless you're unconscious or bleeding from the head, nothing at the hospital moves swiftly.  before even being checked, you must 1) change, 2) leave a urine sample, 3) wait..., 4) hand over your insurance and license, 5) wait..., 6) answer a gazillion questions and 7) sign your life away and wait... through all that waiting, the painful contractions came on faster than you can say "ouch".  and before i knew it, i was crawling up the bed in pain.  nurse jess asked me if i was an epidural kind of gal, to which i replied, "let's just say that i will take it just as soon as you're allowed to give it to me".  i figured it would then be just a snap of nurse jess' fingers and the anesthesiologist would come skipping on in.  very few of my friends who have had kiddos talked much about the contractions.  and if they did, they said they had pretty much gotten an epidural before it got really bad.  i figured i'd be the same.  no.  apparently, the almost full moon that night had caused quite the influx of emergency situations at the hospital because both anesthesiologists were in surgery.  and i was just that lady in labor.  [breathe in, breathe out] it's okay...i can wait.  ......or can i? 

to be continued...
 ....i have a baby to feed.