Wednesday's BABY STORY SHOWCASE...

Another tie...just too good to choose! Giving birth on your bedroom floor certainly wins you a SHOWCASE! Good Lord!

Beth is my hero!

My 1st daughter was around 6 months old when a friend of mine called to tell me she was pregnant (our first are 2 weeks apart). I was breastfeeding 100% of the time (pumping while at work), but knew that you could get pregnant while nursing – I also had already gotten my cycle back – but we were being careful. There was no way we were pregnant again! Well, I wasn’t sure when I should start but had a feeling – so we were in Target and I picked up a pregnancy test just to alleviate any worries.

My husband was taking a shower, so I “took” the test. We were not pregnant – no way!! HAHA – joke’s on us! It was positive, as were the following two tests that I took. I called my friend, 2 weeks to the day from when she called me, and told her I was pregnant!

Being 6 months pregnant at my 1st child's 1st birthday was just BIZARRE but it was what it was and there was nothing I could do about it. I bucked up and tried to be at peace with this thing I SO did NOT plan. (Ok, I stole this paragraph from Michelle – but it is so nicely worded and so APPROPRIATE and how I was feeling).

We choose not to find out if we are having a boy or girl – didn’t’ know with the first and didn’t with this one either! My husband, however, predicted that this would be a girl, I would go past my due date, and “she” would be born in the middle of the night! WHOA!!!A girl I worked with and I were due the same day. I was so hoping this baby would arrive early and mostly expected this – as our first one was 4 days early! Hey – 4 days is 4 days!

My co-worker had her baby 2 weeks before our due date – precious little girl – boy was I jealous she was already off work on maternity leave, but more so that she wasn’t pregnant anymore!!I had my regular OB appointment on a Monday and all was fine. They said they could strip my membranes to speed things along – HMM..NO THANK YOU! Baby will come when ready. The Big DayI had been having contractions on and off that day – a bit more than usual – even so much that I was charting them at my desk (yes I was still working). This I think freaked out my boss and co-workers a bit (they were all male)…Made them nervous I think (they knew of the quick labor and delivery of our first daughter). Kind of funny for me!

My due date came and went! I worked a full day until around 5 pm. We went to grab some dinner and then went to Home Depot as our bassinet needed to be repaired (nothing like waiting until 2 days after your due date to fix the baby’s bed)! We were in Home Depot and husband was trying to make a decision of what materials he would need to fix the bassinet and was taking his sweet time. All of sudden, I looked at him and said “we have to go NOW”! He said why? I said “NOW”!! I thought I had peed on myself – I wasn’t having contractions at this point and felt fine. He proceeded to make his decision and head to the checkout, while I headed to the truck!We went home, put Bella to bed, and carried on as normal. There were no signs that it was my water that had broken and again I felt fine and besides the little “surge” I had in Home Depot – nothing else.

I was sleeping on the couch by this point for comfort reasons and husband was in our bed. At least one of us should get some sleep, right? So we all went to sleep. Around 12:47, I woke up with contractions and I’m not talking mild contractions!!! I proceeded to get my book and try to take a bath (I have natural, unmedicated childbirths)! That didn’t work and I was more uncomfortable in our bathtub. So I got out – still didn’t want to wake up husband – again someone should get some sleep! But it just kept going and they seemed to be getting closer together and more frequent. I finally woke him up and told him to rub my back – I have back labor. He did as told but it wasn’t helping and I had the urge to pee every time I had a contraction. I actually ended up hugging the porcelain God – sitting backwards and hunching over – wow – what relief!

We decided that we should probably start heading to the hospital. We had two friends on call – one lived about 5 minutes away and the other, maybe 10 minutes. Husband called friend #1, no answer, voicemail. Husband called friend #2, no answer, voicemail. He is in the process of leaving friend #2 a message when I say “hang up the phone, my water broke, this baby is coming”! WE ARE STILL AT HOME!! So, he hangs up the phone with friend #2’s voicemail, calls 911, gets a towel (wouldn’t want to stain the carpet!), lays it in front of our bed and helps me to the floor. I push maybe 2 or 3 times and SHE arrives AT HOME at 3:57 AM!! WHOA – Husband was right – past due date, girl, and middle of the night! Maybe I should start listening to him….

He is talking to the 911 operator and Bella (1st daughter) starts crying and that bothers me – I tell him to give me the phone and go get Bella!!! I talk to the 911 operator and tell him we are fine, baby is breathing and nursing, we had wiped her down a bit and she was wrapped in a blanket on Mommy! Finally about 10 minutes after her birth, the fire department/rescue squad arrive – sirens and all!!! How exciting!

We finally get off the phone with 911 and the firefighters proceed to our bedroom where they cut the cord (haha – they ask Daddy is he wants to and he declines – all they had was a straight edge to cut it with – like Daddy hasn’t been involved enough?). They check out the baby and all is fine – they load us up on a stretcher and we proceed to the hospital. Brannon starts called family (all our family was out of town) and when he says “It’s a girl” and they respond with “you were supposed to call us when you left for the hospital” he replies “ok, well I’ll call you when we leave”!!!

On the way to the hospital – Brooklyn Elizabeth turns a bit blue and they have to put the oxygen mask around her (not on her completely) and they turn the sirens on and speed up the pace – this was a little scary but the EMTs assured me she was fine – and she was. We get to the hospital and it is quite crazy – EMT is trying to get all my insurance information; hospital is insisting I get registered; they’ve taken my baby to check her over and I want her back! My husband stayed behind with Bella to get her to a friend’s house to watch her.

After a brief one night stay in the hospital – we were released and she is now 16 months old!

That’s our story of Brooklyn’s birth!!!

And Karla had a Baby New Year...definitely SHOWCASE-worthy, don't ya think?

We THOUGHT we had fertility issues. We both saw our doctors. Maybe we didn't know what we were doing? But 5 pregnancies and 4 kids are proof that neither of us needed any surgery, my husband had enough sperm (it only takes one, right?), and though perhaps not 400m gold medalist swimmers, his sperm had what it takes.

During my first pregnancy, I experienced every discomfort discussed in the prenatal class. And being that this was our first, of course 'we' were going to do everything naturally. No drugs. No inducing. Whatever it took. The due date was January 2, 1997.

At 11:30 pm on December 30 as I rolled off the bed to go to the bathroom, my water broke. And being that this was our first, our bags were packed and we were ready to go. We called the OB/GYN who inquired about contractions. As my husband put it, I was having small ones, but we didn't know any better. So we told the Dr. that yes, the contractions were indeed 5 minutes apart. We headed for the hospital as instructed.

All through the night we walked the halls of the hospital. That's all you can do. No one knew yet of the condition that would haunt me through 3 out of 4 of my deliveries: I am cervically challenged. You can pump an ocean of Pitocin into my veins only to hear the refrain - nah, just a fingertip... one centimeter. Oops, I got ahead of myself.

We were walking the halls. And praying. By dinner time I still was not in labor. This is when Dr. Hand, who also forgot to bring his bedside manner with him, examined me. You know his name really isn't Dr. Hand, and you know why I named him that - BECAUSE IT FREAKING HURTS TO BE EXAMINED WHEN YOU ARE IN LABOR (well, or almost in labor!) He also informed me that my 'bowel was full' and that if I didn't do something about it he would have the nurse give me an enema in the morning. And then he left.

I had to poop? How the heck are you supposed to know the difference when it's your first time? Well, luckily, I was able to take care of that little situation. They also let me have dinner, and my husband went home to our dog. When he left, I cried.

He came back though. I had been given Cervidil to 'soften the cervix' overnight. (I think my cervix laughed at it.) Anyway, the Cervidil was the first strike in the 'all natural, no drug' plan. The second came first thing in the morning when they started the Pitocin drip. Dr. Hand was back to finish up his shift. He proudly commented that he had scared the $hit out of me. I didn't think he was so funny. Luckily Dr. Biceps (he lifts weights, you can tell) took over for Dr. Hand.

Anyway, we still had not produced the first baby of the new year. Yes, now it was New Year's Day. My in-laws were all at my BIL's house for the annual party. And now was when I learned what a contraction was.

My husband dutifully watched the monitor for every contraction and told me if it looked like it would be 'a bad one.' I still had had no drugs, and I was exhausted. I was using the crucifix in the room as my focal point during the contractions. Before the delivery I had talked to God and told Him that I would offer up to Him whatever came with the delivery. And it was during this time that Jesus made it known to me that He was carrying me. Twice during labor, my husband was watching the monitor and warning me about what he saw on the screen. And during these two particular times, with my eyes squeezed shut, I felt... numb I guess. I 'saw' white. I felt peace. HE gave me a gift.

Well after six hours of Pitocin and the 'one centimeter' broken record refrain, Dr. Biceps informed us that we had tried everything and that he now had to do a c-section. Strike three. Now that the contractions had stopped, I got the stinkin' epidural for the surgery. So at about 10 minutes to 3:00 on New Year's Day, Dr. Biceps delivered Rocky with the comment, "That head never would have fit!" He was 7# 14oz and had a big head. As it turns out, 3 out of 4 of my children were born between 2:30 and 3:00 in the afternoon. The time right before Jesus died.

I know that every birth is a miracle, a gift from God. And for us now, the New Year's party is at our house, so we can celebrate the miracle of Rocky's birth.