On this day...

There are so many important events in my life to remember on this day.  I am not sure which story I want to tell first.  I may have to write several posts.  So, FIRST, let me remember that four years ago today I was waiting for a call from Norton Suburban Hospital in Louisville, KY telling me there was a bed free, and I could come have my little girl that day.  KJ's parents and Katie were already at our apartment waiting for the call, as well.  I remember getting up at 5:30 to call the hospital that morning.  Katie was asleep on our couch, and being 9 months pregnant, I couldn't go back to sleep without a little snack.  We chatted in the early morning darkness of my kitchen while I toasted an English Muffin.  


After a little more sleep we woke and showered.  I ate a few pretzel sticks at 10 am.  That was to be my last sustenance for 17 hours.  We got the call about noon that there was a bed free.  A call to my parents found them to be just about to drive into our apartment complex.  The air was abuzz with excitement.

Once at the hospital we filled out a little paperwork and waited a bit in the waiting room before we were called back.

My dad had episodes of Andy Griffith to entertain him.

Off we went!

The entire experience was too surreal for me to be nervous or scared at this point.  Ella was 4 days past her due date (the doctor had agreed to induce a couple of days before they normally would because I was progressing well, and it was Labor Day weekend and it seemed like a good time), and I was weary of being great with child.  I had a lovely nurse named Hilda for the first few hours.   I ate sugar-free Popsicles and talked to my brothers on the phone.  The pitocin drip was started at 2:45 pm, and I had no pain for quite a while.

At 8:30 pm I had progressed to 4 cm and the doctor broke my water.  It did not take very long after that for pain to begin fiercely, and by 9:30 I had progressed to 7 cm and had an epidural.  All was bliss for the next 3 hours.

Let me just say that I could not have made it through my hour of pain without my support team.  KJ held my hand, my mom coached me through breathing, and Katie applied a blessed counter-pressure to my lower back.  At 11:45 my doctor told me I was ready to push, and that he would be back in 15 minutes.  At that point I was becoming extremely sleepy and dozed a little bit.  Apparently another woman on the floor needed my doctor at the same time, because he did not return to my room until 12:30 am, and the rest of the story ends tomorrow.