Pregnancy: Labor and Delivery

Monday, June 27th

6:30am
I woke up having a contraction, not the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having, slightly more intense. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours waking up once or twice with some mildly "painful" contractions.

9:00am
JD leaves to play golf. He had plans to go with the guys and who am I to tell him no? A couple of contractions is not enough to make him stay home.

10:00am
I get ready for the day. My contractions are starting to get more and more frequent. I open up the contraction app I put on my iTouch and put it to use. They are coming every 15-20 minutes. Hmm..could this really be it? I text Jana and Rhonda to let them know today may really be the day!

11:00am
The grocery list had been made. If I don't go to the store the contractions will stop. If I do go, hopefully labor will continue and the pantry will be stocked for when we return home. I don't time the contractions while walking the aisles, but I had several while out.

1:00pm
Home to eat lunch and put up all the groceries for the week. I feel like the contractions are closer together and sure enough, my handy dandy app tells me they are occuring every 8-10 minutes, lasting less than a minute. Lily heads to quiet time and I try to take a nap, thinking that it may be a long night. And sure enough, I can't sleep because of the contractions. They are becoming more intense throughout the afternoon. I also let my Bible study girls know that labor is in full swing, but I still want them to come over to the house. What better distraction than to have my best friends in the house studying the Word? I can't think of anything!

5:00pm
JD comes home. I am making dinner. He tells me all about golf. I try to act interested. And finally, I cut him off telling him I am in labor. We will have our baby in our arms soon. He is a bit overwhelmed that he was gone all day while I labored. I remind him that I am awesome. Contractions are now between 5-8 minutes, lasting just under a minute. (by the way, JD knew nothing of the contractions until he witnessed me white-knuckled gripping the cabinet...and not being able to complete my sentences until it passed)

7:00pm
Girls come over and as they ask how I am doing, I tell them all about my day of labor. LCR reminded all of us that 9 months ago we were sitting in the same living room praying over me to conceive, for the Lord to bless our family with a child. And then tonight, we were sitting in the same living room while I am laboring with this miracle baby. They once again prayed for me. And once again, there were lots of tears. Lily was getting ready for bed and came down the hall to see what was going on. JD at first pulled her back, but quickly realized what a teaching opportunity this was--to see the body of Christ rejoicing in what only HE can do! (Thank you JD for taking the opportunity to teach!)

9:00pm
Throughout the video study my contractions were coming more frequently--between 4-5 minutes and becoming more intense, lasting 60-90 seconds. The study was over and I got up to head to the potty. And I never came back to the girls. When JD walked into the living room, the girls asked if I was okay, and he said, 'well, she is bracing herself between the wall and the counter during each contraction.' And with that the house cleared out in less than two minutes. (One husband said later he knew something was up when his wife returned home before 10:00pm, HA!) I called my beloved OB nurse to make sure this was it. And she said I passed the test--head on in! And with that, I hopped in the shower (After all, Jana was going to be taking pictures..vanity at it's best!) and called Rhonda to head on over!

10:30pm
JD and I headed to the hospital. I love that it is 5 minutes from my house, literally! Grandparents were called and excitement was in the air! We arrived at the desk, contracting all the way upstairs, with 3 nurses sitting down. They were all so nice. Stephanie took care of us. She. was. awesome. And since there was only one other patient on the floor, we received 5 star treatment all night (well, actually all week). She got me all hooked up and paperwork completed and finally told me I was really sticking around until Baby arrived and I was far enough along that an epidural was in my near future!

Tuesday, June 28th

Midnight
Jana arrives to begin taking pictures. She is super excited as this is her first birth story! We are excited to be able to document the beginning of our sweet Baby's life. What a HUGE blessing it was to have her with us. (The pictures in this post are her work.)

1:30am
Anesthesia arrives. And not a moment too late. The contractions were just about unbearable at this time--I was on the verge of tears as they were on top of each other and not seeming to give me a break. And once that epidural was placed, immediate relief! A relief I don't remember feeling with Lily. And then it was rest time, because we are only half way there.

6:00am
We give a call to the grandparents to let them know there is still no baby. One response was "are you kidding?" Nope. No baby. Change of shift is coming and we are a bit disappointed that Stephanie would not deliver, but we know everything is in the Lord's timing.

7:00am
I see a doctor for the first time. My contractions have become more irregular and not quite as strong. The nurses and I decided that the doc needed to break my water to help get things going for me to make it from a 9 to a 10. But when he checked, my water had already broken. So plan b is to start the pitocin to finish.

11:00am
The past 4 hours were fuzzy. Not sure when pitocin was started. I do remember my body aching from lying on my back for the past 10 hours and trying to change positions to be comfortable. Nothing really worked. I remember starting to feel the contractions again and having my epidural increased, only not to work.

And then I remember the words, "you are ready to push." And that deserved a kiss.

11:30am
The nurse anesthesist is trying to come up with something to help with the increase in pain. And I realize that my epidural has most likely become dislodged (or whatever you call it when it is no longer where it needs to be) and no matter what is done, I am still going to feel it. I tell them not to try anything else, but let's just get to pushing! I want to meet this Baby!!

JD gets his first glimpse of our baby.

12:13pm
Dr. D arrives. He is a bit suprised how far I have come. And he is all business.

12:23pm
Mark Thomas enters the world! We are immediately in LOVE! The doc puts him on my chest and leaves him there while he is cleaned up.

JD is able to cut the cord.

We are both smitten with love for our boy.

I love JD! Immediately after Mark was born, he gave GLORY where it was due!

He also went with Mark across the room to be weighed and measured and everything else they do.

And the little guy may be as photogenic as his big sister.

We call up MB and tell her the baby is here and we need Lily to come up to the hospital. Remember, I told you that Lily would be the one to tell everyone. JD met Lily in the parking lot. She kept asking if she had a sister. "What if it is a brother?" "But Daddy, is it a sister?" He wouldn't tell her. She came into the room and saw me and I showed her her baby BROTHER. And she was okay with it. She too was immediately in love (Probably a bit in shock that it was a boy, just like her parents.) and wanted to hold him all by herself.

We called the grands and siblings to introduce them to our SON!

And then JD and Lily introduced him to the world!