Wednesday, the 3rd, I went to bed as usual, but didn't get any sleep because as soon as I would lie down, I started having contractions exactly three to five minutes apart. I was also having bloody thick mucus like discharge the whole day. I was up all night thinking that I might be in labor. However, as soon as I would get up and walk around, the contractions would go away. I couldn't lay down, though, so I just stayed up!
Thursday night, the same routine started. I was lying down on the couch with my husband to watch a movie and couldn't stay there because the contractions started again. This time, however, when I got up they didn't stop. I instructed Will to get some sleep knowing that this was it. He didn't believe me, but went to bed anyway. The contractions were consistent, but only painful if I would lay down. So, here's what I decided to do while I waited till I couldn't stand it anymore:
--Took a shower and shaved as well as I could
--Painted my toe nails (which was quite a task!)
--Did five loads of laundry and folded everything
--Cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes
--Took care of all the bills
--Checked and replied to all my emails
--Posted my status on facebook
--Prayed that I would make it till at least 4:30 in the morning so as not to have to wake anyone in the middle of the night
--Packed my hospital bag
--Packed a bag for Daniel and Ani (Ariel and Abi had school)
--Made of a list of things I didn't want to forget (I still forgot things even though I had written them down!)
--Researched all kinds of "labor" things on google
Oddly enough, at almost exactly 4:30, I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to start extreme breathing through the contractions and soon after was screaming through them. This woke the kids up really easily. Ariel ran into every room exclaiming "Mommy's going to have a baby today!" All the kids got dressed in record time as I yelled instructions in between contractions. Will called Michelle Lowell to ask if Daniel and Ani could come over, then called his mother to ask if she could meet us off the freeway and take the girls to school. Both parties agreed and by 5:30 we were on the road.
As luck would have it, there was major road construction on 42nd and Monroe with traffic backed up in both directions just stopped waiting for the heavy machinery to get out of the way. I was now in terrible pain and screaming into a shirt as we sat there. Will decided to just pass everyone and disregard the traffic laws. He stuck his head out the window as he drove by yelling "Soooooooorrrrryyyyyy.......Myyyyyyy Wiiiiiiife's iiiiiiiiin laaaaaaborrrrrrr!" Of course, the construction guys didn't understand him and flipped us off yelling "you're breaking the law" as we drove by. Ariel and Abi were screaming in the back "Dad, you're breaking the law. You can't do that." Daniel then said "I get it now...sometimes it's okay to break the law. It's called 'an emergency.'" I can only guess other ways he was thinking that he could now justify not doing what the law said.
In between contractions I tried to explain to the concerned kids that mommy was going to be just fine and this was totally normal. Abi thought I was going to have a baby in the car, so I explained it this way:"The baby is inside of a balloon in mommy's tummy that is filled with water. The baby can't come out until the balloon breaks and all the water comes out. Mommy's water hasn't come out yet, so the baby won't be born right here. Don't worry. It sounds like mommy is going to have a baby right now, but it will be a while." Right when I was done saying this, a massive contraction hit and I started screaming into the shirt. We were almost at the Lowell's house now, and Ariel yelled out "Daddy, she's gunna blow!" (I assume she was thinking about the "balloon" analogy I had just given.) We all started laughing.
I really wanted to just throw the kids out of the car and drive off so that no one could see my face as I sat there in pain. I should have known Michelle wouldn't leave without hugging me and sure enough, she ran to the car as we drove up with tears streaming down her face and said "Oh honey, I wish I could be there with you. It's going to be okay." So, on top of screaming, I was now crying.
Carl, my father in law, met us off the freeway and we dropped the girls off. It was a quick stop thank goodness! We continued on to Desert Regional. I decided that if I wasn't dilated to a 6 or more by the time we got there, I was going to demand an epidural. When we got there, my concerned husband ran to get a wheel chair and didn't leave me time to tell him not to. I couldn't explain to him that sitting would make it worse, so I stood on the sidewalk during a contraction while a lady stood behind the wheel chair saying "Go ahead and sit, honey. The chair is right behind you." I felt so bad completely ignoring her, but I couldn't talk. I just wanted to get up to the second floor as soon as possible and get my epidural. As soon as I could walk, I did, leaving the lady with the wheel chair just standing there as if I had never heard or saw her. (I hope she understood.
Instead of just putting me in a room right away, they had me go to an "evaluation" room filled with other people to make sure I was really in labor. You know, you'd think they could just tell from looking at me, but no, I had to scream through contractions now in front of other people. That was fun! They checked me and declared that I was a 4 with baby at negative 1 (meaning the head was already down pretty low). I said immediately, "Please prepare the anesthesiologist for my epidural." The calm nurse said that she would let them know up front.
When they had me sign my papers at the nurses desk, I let those nurses know to get the anesthesiologist right away. One of them said "Well, he just went in for an emergency C-section, so he won't be out for about an hour." I said "I know there isn't just one in this hospital. Find another one." They were adamant that only one could take care of me and he wasn't available. I was crying when we got into the room. The doctor came in about fifteen minutes later and asked what he could do for me. I looked him in the eye and said "If you want a good review, you get me an anesthesiologist in here now to give me an epidural." He left and came back about five minutes later with Dr. Kahlil---an anesthesiologist. It was like the heavens opened and Angels started singing "Hallelujah." I was SO HAPPY! To make it even better, it took all of five minutes to get the epidural in. For the first time, I didn't feel the huge needle! I was in pain free heaven in less then fifteen minutes. I must have thanked him twenty times.
While we were waiting, my sister, Meredith, and my mom were there. They asked what we planned on naming him. After I said "Cael Christian Carter," my mom said "Isn't Daniel's name already Christian Daniel? Even if you name him 'Christian', it doesn't mean he'll be one. He can choose on his own." This made me so mad that at that moment, I knew I was naming him exactly what I should. She was so sarcastic and rude about it that you'd think I was naming him "Mormon." Will said "Say what you want about Mormon's, but you wont' be able to say my son's aren't Christians."
My nurse, Sharame, was fantastic. She was young and spunky with the same sense of humor that I had. She broke my water after about an hour. Less than an hour after that, I was ready to push. It was surreal. I could not believe I was having another baby. In three pushes, he was out! I didn't think that being born at 37 weeks he was going to weigh more than 7.5 pounds, but he was 8 lb. 1 oz and 19 inches long! Crazy! I am so lucky I didn't go longer than 37 weeks....I don't know if I could push out a 10/11 pound baby. He didn't cry for a few seconds, but was fine after a while. They had to give him oxygen for about ten minutes, then he was all mine. I was so proud to have such a beautiful son. He had BLOND hair....my first one! My first three had jet black hair and Ani had no hair. I loved the complete change.
He's now 2 weeks old and I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. I have cried many times for no reason, and many times for reasons that I really should just get over (like crying because I feel like I just can't do it all, but really want to!) My laundry is piling up, there are no projects being done (though they are always in my mind), poor little Ani is getting little to no attention from me, my husband is suffering from lack of any kind of attention from me, and the other kids are probably wondering what happened to their mom. I'm tired. I hate my overweight body. I go through this with every new birth, but never seem to remember that I eventually get over it.
