It was 3:45 pm on a wintry Tuesday, February 12th. I just finished all the preschool prep I needed to do for our fun Valentine's Day lesson and party as I started to tidy up the place. I reached over the back of our sofa to pick up the library books when I suddenly had a very wet sensation trickle down my legs. Not going to lie, my immediate thought was a hope that I just lost bladder control and not that my water broke. I had the induction scheduled for Monday, February 18th. That was when the baby was supposed to come--my parents would be here, the bathrooms would be cleaned, and I would have everything in order. But I rushed to the toilet and found that fluids continued to come and I couldn't do a blessed thing about it. I called Geoff and said, "I think my water just broke." I kept rambling about how I wasn't sure, but it seemed like that's what was happening. He finally interrupted me and said, "You need to call the doctor!" I told him I would and then call him right back. The nurse I spoke with was very sweet and very excited for me. "Yep, it sounds like your water broke. I'll call the hospital to let them know you're coming!" I then let her know I had to make arrangements for my children, so it may be another hour before I arrive. Lillian was crying during the entire phone call, so she quickly said she was going to recommend I give myself an hour to get everyone situated. I called Geoff back only for him to tell me he was pulling in the driveway to take me to the hospital.
A little after 4:00, I called my parents to tell them the news. Dad was home and I was shocked when he calmly said, "That's great news! Give Mom and I about an hour or so to get our things together and we'll head your way." What?! I thought they'd wait until the morning to head our way, but they were willing to drop everything to help us out right then and there. Chicago was currently having an ice storm, so I was nervous about the roads and their safety, but they promised they would keep me updated on their travels.
Okay, next was making arrangements for the girls. Since I had an induction scheduled and none of my children came early, I really didn't do a lot of serious planning in this department. But fortunately, we have amazing and supportive friends who were willing to drop everything to help us. Our neighbor, Emily, took the girls and fed them dinner and then Sara and Libby Soelberg took them home to put them to bed and Sara stayed with them until my parents arrived. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with all this love and support. It was even more comforting when all the girls were smiling when I dropped them off at Emily's, they were handling all this unplanned excitement way better than their Mom who had already shed a *few* tears of shock.
Geoff was also quite the trooper through all of this chaos. Not only did he drop everything at work to get home at record time, he pitched in by getting things together for the girls, helped me make decisions, and made sure I had everything I needed. The drive to the hospital was icy, but calm. No contractions or pain on my part...just the discomfort of excessive fluids. When we got to the hospital (at 4:50 pm!), they had me sit in a wheelchair and wheeled me straight into a labor and delivery room--no triage, didn't check me, they just handed me a gown and told me to get comfortable! When the nurse left, I told Geoff I sure hope I'm not wrong about my water breaking, because if this is a bladder problem and I'm not in labor, this could get a little interesting!
After getting poked 3 times, they got my IV hooked up and on antibiotics by 6:00 PM. At 7:00, the doctor came in to check me and I was shocked that I was dilated to a 3! First time I got there without assistance from meds! She decided to check me again at 10 and decide from there what interventions they will do to get me into labor.
Since I wasn't really having any consistent contractions, they decided to start the pitocin at 9:15 PM and then at 10 they administered the rest of the antibiotics (I was positive for group b strep). Contractions were getting a little stronger, but nothing too intense. I let the nurse know I wanted an epidural so if anything happened fast, I'd be ready.
Around 10:30 PM, the doctor came to give me the epidural, but made Geoff leave the room. He said too many times the husband passes out and they have to get more medical assistance, so they just make them leave to avoid that. Hmm. I wasn't crazy about Geoff leaving, and I also wasn't crazy about the fact that he inserted that long needle down my spine THREE times before he had it was placed correctly. Plus, the anesthesiologist and nurse were very quiet during the entire procedure. The silence made me feel very uneasy, but eventually Geoff was able to come back in and lighten the mood. Right after the medication started flowing, I got the shakes pretty bad and was wondering if I was progressing. The nurse checked me and I was a 5, close to a 6. Soon after I was feeling some more focused pressure during contractions.
At 11:30, the nurse was in checking my vitals and entering things into the computer when everything went blank, the computers and monitoring devices all shut down! Three nurses scrambled to get me in another room and once I was in, they checked me again and said it was go time! They made the comment, "Are you going to have a February 12th or 13th baby?" I was floored with how quickly everything was going. The nurses left to get Dr. Patsavas and delivering supplies and at 11:50 I was pushing. The pushing was the hardest I've experienced. Lots of pressure, discomfort, and I was tired! I was also worried the baby was going to have a cone head because things weren't progressing as quickly as they had in the past. Everyone laughed at me when I expressed this concern out loud...I didn't think it was that unusual to think this? The nurses team was the most rambunctious I had ever experienced. They were loudly counting and coaching through each push as if they were cheering in a football stadium with 15 seconds left in the game and their team is 3 yards away from the field goal and winning play! But then I'd hear the doctor quietly report, "Good, you're making progress. The baby's coming down." Her calm reports motivated me way more than the loud cheering. But at 12:06 AM, everything was finished and I gave birth to a 10 lb. 1 oz. baby BOY! I don't know if Geoff was in shock at this fact, but he was a little delayed in announcing the gender news--the doctor kept looking at him waiting for him to let me know. Maybe Geoff was a little distracted/amused with the fact that the baby was peeing right as he came into the world! Ha!
They placed him on me for just a few moments but them took him away to get things moving. He was stunned and needed more oxygen. He wasn't crying much, so anytime he did make a sound I felt relieved. While Dr. Patsavas was giving me a few stitches, she was listening to the doctors monitoring the baby and quietly let me know what all the numbers they were discussing meant and what procedures they were doing. Finally, he stabilized, they weighed him, and I got to hold and feed him. He is so perfect. He appears to be stocky and his arms and chest definitely seem bigger than our other babies. I feel he fits his name of Kyron James and we are so grateful to have him in our family.
He is a calm, quiet little guy who rarely fusses much at all. My recovery has been smooth, the biggest thing I noticed with this delivery was how sore I was the next day from pushing! But I must admit, my body feels so amazing simply not being pregnant anymore! It was getting so hard to function by the end of each day--my body was just so tired. But right after Kyron was born, I felt unstoppable just because I could move so much easier than when very pregnant!
Looking forward to all the wonderful adventures we'll get to have with this little man!
