The Birthing Experience…. Part 1.
Contractions started this morning and were about 5-7 minutes apart with varying degrees of severity. To wait it out, I went to work and Emily went to school. I got a call about 8:30AM and drove pretty quick from 
fter a few checks and a couple of hours we decided to called for the anesthesiologist to come do the epidural. Dr. Bailey, an OB/Gyn resident came in and said she had done 40 or so and should be ok to do the epidural. After examining and prepping, she was having a bit of difficulty so she called Dr. Hoffer, the anesthesiologist on call. He was able to give a couple of pointers and Dr. Bailey got the epidural in without any issues. Shortly thereafter, Emily got really hot and started feeling nauseous. Her blood pressure dropped pretty low (80/40) and five or six nurses and doctors rushed in . They issued 20(?) of ephedrine to get her BP (and the baby’s) back up. Two minutes later everything was back to normal (as normal as it can be in a hospital). She is progressing nicely as of 3:40PM on May 2, 2008. I’m a nervous wreck but Debra is here and helping and Emily is drugged up so we are playing the waiting game.
Part 2……
Epidural was wearing off so we called for help. Resident Dr. Kyle McMorey(?) and Connie (a nurse, most likely an RN) came in. “Currently progressed to a -1 station from a -2 and between a 6 and a 7.” These docs and nurses are so nice. Eliana and Danya (our regular nurses since we have been here) have been great, coaching me along and trying to get me to relax. This will have to be my last child. It’s not that I don’t love kids. I just feel like my heart might explode if I had to go through this all again. I have been not so much a basket case but very much the watchful eye on baby monitors, heart rate monitors and the like. Emily’s TOCO readings are jumping in the 90s now so we could be nearing the pushing stage in the near hours, maybe hour. Kevin (Kevin Huddleston MD OB/GYN) our doc has had no sleep over the past few days and was on his way home when he got our call we were at the hospital. His wife is at home with some back trouble so he went to get nourishment for her (hopefully him) and maybe even a nap. We’ll see him soon enough. He’s delivered at least four babies in the past couple of days so I’m sure he is on top of his game with or without a nap. He always seems so darn cheery. If I had been on call all night and got called back, I can’t say I could even force a smile. He’s good.
Part 3……
Shift change @ 7PM. Still here. Baby’s not. Danya and Eliana are headed home and Linda Teague is here. She is taking over for the Darling Duo. We are in cruise control so she tells us.. Kevin is back and we are swapping honeymoon disaster stories. Cruise control indeed. Kevin killed a deer and put it in the back of a Plymouth Horizon. That beats my tow and slide story. Matt and Tina just got here. Still cruising. A quick check and we are prepping to push. It’s only a matter of time now. 7:20PM May 2, 2008
Part 4….
The pushing has started and Linda and Kevin are playing motivational football coaches. Push, you can do it! C’mon almost there! She’s sunny side up so we are prepping for a long term push. Zeke was the same (sunny side up). 9 pushes. About 10 minutes total. That’s all it took. We have a baby girl!!! Anna Kate joined us at 7:44PM on May 2, 2008. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 19 ¼ inches long. She appears healthy in all the tests they’ve checked and she’s doing great, as is Mommy at the time of this entry. She has just had her first bath and a video and photo session too! Kevin did a blessing just after she was born and we are truly blessed. Zeke is excited. He kept saying, “She popped out!” We will move rooms soon and I hope to get some sleep soon. I am the least tired here but that’s not saying much. I hope our clan and our docs and nurses all get that sweet sweet sleep after a long day.
