Brooks was born Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 10:18 am. Here’s how it all started…I was READY to get this kid out…I was right at 38 weeks and my feet were swollen to the size of my head, my back ached, I was tired…and just ready to be done with the whole pregnancy thing. Mom and I had been power walking the week before (you know, shake something loose) but the doctor had recently put me on bed rest due to my blood pressure shooting up. Well, after one weekend of bed rest, I just could NOT do it anymore…how was laying in a bed help progress this along? I had a doctor appt scheduled for 9:30 that morning, the word on the street was that if I hadn’t gone into labor yet the doctor was going to send me to the hospital to induce. I had gone to the pharmacy on Monday night and purchased Castor oil…just in case the doctor was not inclined to help me out ;). I went to work Monday and felt HORRIBLE…so I told my boss-lady that I would not be coming in on Tuesday (day of the dr appt)…and that she can probably plan on not seeing me again for at least 6 weeks….
Tuesday morning, Mom hauls me out of bed at 7 am to go on a 3 mile power walk…I had been having minor contractions all morning…but nothing that really bothered me or came with any sort of regularity. That started to change about half-way through our walk. My power walk started to turn into a crawl when I started having pretty regular contractions…they were still about 8-10 minutes apart and they weren’t hurting all that bad. We got home from our walk at about 8 am, and I took a shower…at this point, the contractions were starting to get uncomfortable…I could not walk through them and I was starting to sweat. Mom came in the room while I was getting dressed, took one look at me and said she was going to drive me to my appointment.
We got to the doctor’s office at 9:15…at this point, the contractions were coming pretty quick and I could not stand to sit down AT ALL! I paced the entire 10 minutes I waited to see my doctor…and I was white-knuckling Ronnie’s hand the ENTIRE time. The doctor put me up on the examination table to check me out and she said, “Girl! You are dilated 7 ½ almost 8 centimeters! We are having the baby today!! Go over to the hospital (which was literally right across the street) and check yourself in. I’ll be over shortly.” I was SO excited…and Ronnie and Mom were both about to jump out of their skin with excitement. The next few minutes were a blur of pain, activity, and signing forms…I got to the hospital at 10:00…the lady at the front dropped the clipboard and her pen while she was FRANTICALLY trying to get me signed in for a wheelchair…I felt like there was a head poking out and this woman is driving me nuts with getting me to sign a form to ride in a freakin’ wheelchair!!!
Finally, we get the wheelchair issue worked out and they carry me to the 2nd floor…wheel me into a room and make me stand up and get naked so they can put a gown on me…it is REALLY hard to get naked when you have contractions doubling you over every 2 minutes…just sayin’…plus, they are asking me to sign forms…CRAZINESS!!! They finally put me in the bed and say they are getting the anesthesiologist to come and give me my epidural….ha ha ha…joke is on me, you see…when they give you an epidural, you have to curl up into a ball and hold VERY still so they can insert the needle into your spine…have you ever tried to curl up in a ball and hold very still while your entire mid-section is cramping up?!?! It ain’t gonna happen…and the idiot anesthesiologist cannot see past his own paycheck to get out of the way and just let me roll over and have the baby!! But, I digress, finally my Mom pushes him out of the way and says, “Even if you get that needle in…that baby is going to be out before it takes effect! Just move and let me help her!”…Gotta love the Momma who has done natural childbirth for 5 out of 6 of her own births and coached several other women through it!! I don’t know how well I would have done without her. Finally, they rolled me over…I pushed 2 ½ times and the little guy came FLYING out…seriously, the doctor nearly didn’t catch him! But it was the most wonderful feeling when they laid him on my chest and informed me that he was perfect (like I didn’t already know!!)…I wasn’t tired or groggy…in fact, I felt completely energized, like I had just climbed a mountain and was staring out over the beautiful scenery. It was simply amazing! Checked into the hospital at 10:00 am...had a new baby boy in my arms at 10: 18! And I NEVER thought I would be able to do that without some serious medication!
That night, I spent a lot of time thanking my Heavenly Father for the wonderful gift and experience he had given me!
