They got my IV of regular fluids going (after the nurse tried and failed several times and ended up getting blood all over the floor and my hand...ew) and soon after, I started contracting (which I hadn't done once before that).
They explained that they could go ahead and put an epidural in so that when I was ready for the meds, all they had to do was start it. They first had to test it to make sure it was in correctly. Once they started it, they broke my water. And when the test run wore off, I was able to get up and walk around while I labored.
The Olympics had started the week before so we were watching that...very ironic to me. :) I was in my own little athletic race...or maraton more like. It was going very smoothly and I was pretty relaxed! The contractions started to intensify so I laid back down and requested the epidural. The guy came in and pushed some buttons and about 10 minutes later, I was feeling really great!
I labored a couple more hours and started to feel some pain in my ...excuse the TMI... rear. I told the nurse who went to put in the request for the guy to come back in. He just happened to be in an emergency c-section and couldn't come back to help me. As the reality set in that I'd be feeling every bit of labor from there on out, I started to panic a little bit. This was something I never had to experience before.
I had Loren and Rachel in the room with me and they were able to coach me a little bit through it. The way the military hospital works is that you either see an OBGYN, a midwife, or a nurse practioner throughout the pregnancy. I saw all three, but mostly the same nurse practioner. The midwife that came in the room was a complete stranger to me. And as she stood closer to the door than the bed, telling me not to scream while I was pushing because I might scare the baby, I was really wishing she were close enough for me to kick her! And even though I had no pain medication, and it hurt like nothing I've felt before...it only took me 15 minutes to push him out! As he was crowning, I'll never forget the midwife saying, "He's got red hair!"
It took me so off guard, that I stopped pushing. But a second later, I was back on track and ready to see him! Kaden Christopher was born at 4:04 pm. I knew he'd be a big baby considering I was a week over my due date. But when I saw him for the first time, I was so surprised! Theona was only 6lbs 14oz! And here was her little brother...9lbs 5oz! 22 inches long! 3 days before my 27th birthday. BEST present ever!
Other things I remember about that day:
- The weather was so nice!
- The nurses were so sweet!
- Theona's face when she first saw Kaden...priceless!
- Rachel telling me she was so proud of me. This is why she's my yaya. She knew exactly what I needed to hear at that moment while I was trying to push and breathe at the same time.
- My sweet sweet friends coming up an hour away from their homes to see us and meet Kaden.
- The fact that almost all the numbers involved on that day are divisible by 4. Ha! 8/16/08, 4:04 pm, and my room number...624.
And now, he's about to be 4 years old! He is super excited about me bringing cookies to his class tomorrow and having his party at Pump It Up! He'll probably wake up talking about those cookies.
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