Shhh…. Benjamin is sleeping. I've got a minute to tell our story so wish me luck that little one doesn't wake too soon.
Friday night, September 24, 2010, was perfect. Will and I took a ride along the mountain side and enjoyed the fall colors and beautiful homes up in South Ogden then we tried a new ice cream shop nearby. The only indication that something might be different is a complete stranger at the ice cream shop said to me, "you look like you're going to pop." I thought, huh- if someone that doesn't even know me thinks that, maybe I am close. Well we went to bed that night and I tossed and turned a little more than usual and had a little pain. The pain went from a little to consistently every 10 minutes at 1 am, by 2 am I figured that it was too consistent to be anything other than labor. I was excited. I told Will-- but he was of course sleeping and would forget the next few minutes. I knew I had sometime before we would go to the hospital. I really wanted my house-- deeply cleaned before then, so I got out of bed and proceeded to wash and vacuum and organize. Every ten to seven minutes I would take a knee and wait for the pain to pass. By 7 am I decided it was time to wake my hubby. He of course was pleased that we were on our way to having a baby. I told him I didn't want to go to the hospital til the pain was unbearable so he started working on projects with me and we waited for more pain. I finished up packaging some spices I had dried and by then my contractions were five minutes apart, not three so I thought lets run an errand or two and then go to the hospital. Well as fate would have it the car slowed my contractions to seven minutes apart and we ended up running several errands and coming back for lunch. By lunch time my contractions were back to five minutes apart and they were unbearable-- which was a relief. I know, sounds funny.
By one o clock in the afternoon we were at the hospital. They put us in a temporary checking room and there I got the worst news of my life. After twelve hours of labor I was still a 2+ -- the exact dilation I was at in my appointment three days earlier (for you who don't know they don't usually admit you until you are at a four). I was devastated. I was in too much pain and did not want to go home. She left us there and said she'd check in on us later. Well 30 minutes later when another nurse came in I was screaming through a contraction and holding onto Will for dear life. She said, "Whoa! how long have you been like this." I just screamed. She checked me and I had gone from a 2+ to a 5+ in less than 30 minutes. They moved me to the delivery room right away (the magic baby number is 10-- once you've dilated to a 10 you're ready to push the baby out). It took another hour for the anesthesiologist to come and I was at a 7 by the time he put the epidural in. Next followed two hours of bliss just listening to my baby's heart beat. At 6 pm I had a confrontation with the doctor at telling him I did not want pitosin (a drug that creates contractions for you). At 7:02 pm Benjamin David was born, after about 10 pushes-- that took about 10 minutes. Amidst the rush of the room all I could do was watch the table where he was being cleaned. Waiting for them to tell me he was OK. He did not scream and he did not fuss, but he scored high- his health was then and continues to be stellar. He was 7 lbs 9 ounces and 19 inches long.
As a funny side note, I had done the math in my mind. By the time I delivered the restaurant that feeds you dinner would be closed and I would have to eat some cold cuts. So about 6:45 just before I started pushing I had Will order me dinner. It was there just in time to eat warm once baby was born.
Right now I'm living in a dream. Benjamin is my life and I never tiring of being with him. His little face, his little hands, his little cries. I can't believe I am his mother. I have actually caught myself telling him "Aunt Summer will take care you." Next to Will, Benjamin is the greatest blessing I could ever hope for.
I don't know what the topic of my next entry will be, maybe the emotion, pain and at times shear hilarity of the week after the hospital. I've already had a ridiculous break down. They tell you not to mess with a pregnant mother, well that goes for a new mother too-- Wow emotions are high ;)
Thanks for reading. I'll keep you posted.
Summer
