Randy, me, and my ginormous belly went to our last prenatal checkup at 39 weeks. Dr. Judd said I was maybe dilated to 1 cm. While he was telling me this, he spent an inordinate amount of time feeling my huge belly and then said, "Did you know you're going to have a big baby?"
Um, is this a rhetorical question? Do I really need to answer that? I've never seen anyone this pregnant. Ever.
He then said, "Do you want to have the baby tomorrow?" With zero hesitation, I said, "Yeah." He left the room to call down to the hospital. He said that they would call that evening to see if they could fit me in the next day for an induction. Randy and I went home, made the arrangements for our hospital stay and waited for the call. They called and told us to call at 6 am the next day. We went to bed early and actually got a good night's sleep. We called the next day, and they said to call back at 8 am, then 11 am, then 12 pm. Randy and I went to RC Willey to walk around and pass the time. The waiting was tortuous. Deflated, we went back home to wait some more. By this time, I paged the doctor to find out if he knew anything. He said he'd call right back. He did call right back, he said to get some lunch and then wait for the hospital to call us while sitting in the parking lot. He said that once they called us, we needed to hightail it in there before another mommy in actual labor showed up.
So Randy and I waited in the hospital parking lot to have our baby. Every time I saw a couple walk into the hospital, I would get increasingly anxious, knowing they were taking my spot. I needed to go inside to use the bathroom. I didn't know exactly where to go, but before I had a chance to ask, a nurse came up to me and asked if I needed help. I told her I was waiting in the parking lot to be called in and I was looking for a bathroom. Later, every nurse knew me as the girl waiting in the parking lot to have a baby. Apparently, this was funny to them.
By 3:30 pm, we were called in. By 4 pm, the induction process began. They asked me to tell them on a scale from 1 to 10 (in pain) when I wanted the epidural. I said, um, zero? My first nurse told me to hold off on the epidural because it could slow down the process. My second nurse, my angel in disguise, scoffed and said to get the epidural now! The epidural worked great until the labor went to my back. The anesthetist, my other angel in disguise, reinserted the epidural and life was good again. The only problem was that I was completely and utterly numb. Not good for birthing a baby. There were signs of distress in both me and the baby, and the doctor gave us two choices: C-section or Forceps. Forceps, please.
At 7:32 am the next day, Andrew James was born into the world. He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, he was 21 inches long, and he was born 3 days early. He had dark brown hair, which was a shocker to us. When he was born, I just kept saying, "He's so cute. He's so cute." The image of the first time I saw him will always be etched into my mind.
Um, is this a rhetorical question? Do I really need to answer that? I've never seen anyone this pregnant. Ever.
He then said, "Do you want to have the baby tomorrow?" With zero hesitation, I said, "Yeah." He left the room to call down to the hospital. He said that they would call that evening to see if they could fit me in the next day for an induction. Randy and I went home, made the arrangements for our hospital stay and waited for the call. They called and told us to call at 6 am the next day. We went to bed early and actually got a good night's sleep. We called the next day, and they said to call back at 8 am, then 11 am, then 12 pm. Randy and I went to RC Willey to walk around and pass the time. The waiting was tortuous. Deflated, we went back home to wait some more. By this time, I paged the doctor to find out if he knew anything. He said he'd call right back. He did call right back, he said to get some lunch and then wait for the hospital to call us while sitting in the parking lot. He said that once they called us, we needed to hightail it in there before another mommy in actual labor showed up.
So Randy and I waited in the hospital parking lot to have our baby. Every time I saw a couple walk into the hospital, I would get increasingly anxious, knowing they were taking my spot. I needed to go inside to use the bathroom. I didn't know exactly where to go, but before I had a chance to ask, a nurse came up to me and asked if I needed help. I told her I was waiting in the parking lot to be called in and I was looking for a bathroom. Later, every nurse knew me as the girl waiting in the parking lot to have a baby. Apparently, this was funny to them.
By 3:30 pm, we were called in. By 4 pm, the induction process began. They asked me to tell them on a scale from 1 to 10 (in pain) when I wanted the epidural. I said, um, zero? My first nurse told me to hold off on the epidural because it could slow down the process. My second nurse, my angel in disguise, scoffed and said to get the epidural now! The epidural worked great until the labor went to my back. The anesthetist, my other angel in disguise, reinserted the epidural and life was good again. The only problem was that I was completely and utterly numb. Not good for birthing a baby. There were signs of distress in both me and the baby, and the doctor gave us two choices: C-section or Forceps. Forceps, please.
At 7:32 am the next day, Andrew James was born into the world. He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces, he was 21 inches long, and he was born 3 days early. He had dark brown hair, which was a shocker to us. When he was born, I just kept saying, "He's so cute. He's so cute." The image of the first time I saw him will always be etched into my mind.
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I got to hold him for a few seconds and then they took him away for about 45 minutes. They gave him oxygen and helped to get him warm.+Large+Web+view.jpg)
He had a very small, quiet cry and made lots of squeaking noises. He sounded more like a guinea pig than a baby. The pediatrician later told us Andrew had tracheal malasia. We're not sure what caused it. Our theories are that it was due to the forceps or the cord that was wrapped 3 times around his neck. Or maybe both. Noone seemed concerned about it, and 4 weeks later, it went away and Andrew was ready to scream his cute little lungs out.
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Grandma Deborah+Large+Web+view.jpg)
Aunt Maranda+Large+Web+view.jpg)
Grandma Mary
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DaddyDo you remember the first Bachelor show? Well, Andrew Firestone was the bachelor, and I fell in love with his name. Andrew means manly or masculine. I figured it was a safe name that wouldn't later turn into a girl's name. Randy didn't like it at first, but I just kept calling the baby "Baby Andrew" and it just stuck. James is my grandpa's name and every grandchild has named their firstborn son James. I also liked that Andrew could be called A.J. if he wanted to.
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Going Home
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1 comment:
I love labor stories, especially the "first time" labor story. Thanks for sharing, very special.
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