Friday Flashback

Happy 4th of July everyone! Today is a very special day for me. Three years ago today, I went into labor with Alex. It's kind of a crazy story, so I'll start it today, and end it tomorrow, on his third birthday.

Alex's due date was June 28th. He was over a week overdue. My OB/GYN said they wouldn't induce me till I was 10 days overdue. So by the third of July, I was irritated to say the least. The child who had taken up residence in my belly and delighted in dancing on my bladder and throwing elbows, knees and heels every which way was showing no signs of coming out. The kid missed his or her deadline and Mama was unhappy! I tried eating spicy food, taking long walks in the evening, willing it to happen. Nothing worked.

July 3rd, 2005 Craig took me out to dinner at Saz's. It was so yummy. We both had to work on the 4th of July. We got up as usual that morning. I got to work a bit early and of course, the newsroom was quiet. I set off to my work filling the 6PM show full of perfect balance of patriotic stories and relevant news of the day. I started feeling uncomfortable. So I got up and walked around. Felt a little better, then sat down to do some more work. Ugh, couldn't get comfortable again, and felt like I had to go to the bathroom. After about 45 minutes of this, it occurs to me that the discomfort is coming at regular intervals. Holy buckets, I was in labor. I did NOT want my water to break at work, so I called Craig and told him to get ready, I was on my way home.

We called the doctor's office answering service, waited for a call back, and started pacing.
I labored for about 2 hours at home before we headed for the hospital. Once we arrived at St. Joe's Hospital I was freaked, but feeling pretty good about things. It was a little after 2PM when we got there. The nurse's were great and helped me get settled. The only bad thing was my blood pressure was elevated, so they made me stay in bed. All I wanted was to walk around and help speed along the process, but they had me strapped to a monitor. The contractions kept coming and they were strong. I kept trying to convince the nurse's that I was fine, that all I needed was to walk around a bit and my blood pressure would come down. About 6PM they finally cleared me to walk around, and then they tell me that if I want an epidural, now is the time. UGH! I knew I couldn't go through labor with out drugs (more power to those of you who did it without drugs! I was in pain and I had an option not to be) so I took the epidural. Somewhere shortly after the epidural, they broke my water. I don't remember the specifics of when that happened. What I do remember is that it hurt! A resident broke my water, and she kept apologizing because it took a couple of attempt. I do remember that.

Craig and I hung out for several hours waiting for the baby. It was great. We talked, watched TV (we watched an entire Brewers game, some fireworks, the news, Seinfeld, Friends, and maybe MASH). It was a very pleasant labor experience. The nurse who started the whole process with me kept coming in and checking me... she even stayed late after her shift got over hoping that I'd deliver. But baby Hofer wasn't going anywhere fast.

Meanwhile, I hadn't had anything to eat since 8:00 AM, so I was starving. They wouldn't even let me have a Life Saver. My pleasant disposition was starting to fade. I had been in that bed for nearly 6 hours. By midnight, I was finally ready to push.

to be continued...