Thursday, September 18, 2008

How it all went down

Both the kids are down for naps, so I have decided to take a few minutes to write about Jace’s delivery. Because mountains of laundry and a desperate need for groceries just seems too easy to accomplish. And taking a nap myself would be the WEAK thing to do! I need a challenge. Where is my Everest? Plus, it’s been eight days since Jace joined our family. Obviously, I am a member of the why do today what you can do tomorrow club.

Anyway… Tuesday morning when I went to my doctor’s appointment I had already dilated to a three and was 25% effaced. So I was aware that labor had started (and the contractions that I had been having since Sunday was also a good clue).

On Tuesday night when we went to bed I was having contractions, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I kept waking up during the night, would have a contraction, and then would talk myself into going back to sleep. By 6:00 in the morning the pain was getting pretty strong, and I decided the smart thing to do would be to get into the bathtub and shave my legs. Because…HE-LL-O…don’t want hairy legs during delivery. That might ruin the whole peaceful delivery experience and make it slightly embarrassing and uncomfortable! Nobody wants that! By the time I had the bathtub water running I had reached a new level of pain and I decided that now would be a good time to do the timing contraction thing.

Okay, here’s the thing when I had Brynlee my water broke. That made it easy enough. Water breaks. Mop the floor. Go to the hospital. Right? Easy as 1-2-3. None of that timing a contraction with a stopwatch. Screaming in pain as you read your “What to Expect When You are Expecting” book waiting until your contractions get exactly…5 minutes apart and last for 1 minute or more.

I know what you are thinking…”Kim, your husband is an Electrical Engineer aren’t numbers his thing? Timing contractions should be easy.” And you’re right. Hypothetically, it SHOULD be easy. However, I was scared to tell Spence when my contractions where getting close because I just knew his Engineering side would come out. I could picture myself screaming in agonizing pain on the couch as Spence worked his little heart out trying to write HTML for a computer program that would calculate my contractions down to the nearest hundredth of a second and would start singing children’s lullabies when it was time to go to the hospital.

By the time Spence and I timed the first contraction it was PAST time to be at the hospital. And then by the time Katie had arrived at our house to watch Brynlee, I was hardly having a break between the contractions. Like I said in my previous post, whoever made up the saying “it’s never too late” IS A BIG FAT DIRTY LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! ‘Cause by the time we had make it to the hospital IT WAS TOO LATE.

In my quest to not time my contractions, I had dilated to an eight and there was no time for an epidural, spinal block, or even fifty-seven candy bars to relieve my pain. On a side note, I’ve decided that they need to offer rain checks on epidurals. If you opt not to use your epidural at delivery (or you are denied the opportunity) you should be able to cash in your epidural rain check anytime during the first year of your child’s life. If the colic gets to bad…no biggie….use your epidural rain check! Babies teething, and you can’t take it anymore. At least you have that epidural to fall back on.

But, they were right. There was no time for an epidural. Within 10 minutes I was at a 10 and it was time to push. And within 45 minutes of pushing, Jace Spencer had arrived. And believe me; he was worth every minute of it!

11 comments:

Robyn said...

He is ADORABLE!!
I think he looks a little like his dad :)

sarah louise said...

Wait until your kids go to the dentist and they give them the laughing gas to calm them down.
After seeing that I don't want an epidural anymore, I want laughing gas pumped through my house...especially as I raise little boys!

Jen said...

He has the most adorable fuzzy warm head. I bet it is fun to feel it on your cheek when you are holding him.

Janita said...

I love his hair! He is adorable!! Good idea about the epi's!

Steven said...

Congrats!! Way to go, "no epidural woman". He is so cute. Good luck boys are an adventure!

Anonymous said...

Oh My Oh My!!! He is sooooo cute. Great job. And.....I'm probably the only one commenting who doesn't have a baby but holy cow....no epidural, you're tough. Tell Spence that maybe that computer program would have been nice after all.

Mikey, Anna, Lillie and Sam said...

Not only are you in the having a baby club you are also in the having a baby free-style club. You are one tuff woman. I love his hair.

Rod and Karla Johnson said...

Ok, I think I may have finally got the password thing resolved. Jace is so dang cute and the your pictures are awesome! Congratulations!!!I'm at rnk4ever.blogspot.com Karla

Lacy said...

wow thats alot of hair. cute little jace. Glad everything went so safely. hope you didn't hate the no epideral thing too badly. love your epideral raincheck idea. My son is having a TERRIBLE time cutting his 3rd tooth right now and Id like to cash mine in now thanks.

The Jones Family said...

Have you ever tried to blog with a 9 month belly, a 2-yr-old fiting to get on your lap and a lap top already occupying the tiny space and sitting in a one-person recliner. Boy....I just needed to move to a bigger space so I could be smoothered with love...and have some peace to blog!

I was wondering if that baby had come yet, I swear I saw Jessica the other day and I was goin got ask her if the baby had come yet. WOW- what a trooper!! I think i must have an epidural/block or just run into a wall and be knocked out. Although, I think i prefer the first. He is a cutie. Hoiw fun it is to see what/who they look like. Such fun hair! I love the name Jace. How is having two kids working out. I'm having a new baby and all, not sure what Kobe will be like or think..."so when is his mommy and daddy coming for him?" I hope all continues to go well. Love ya, CONGRADULATIONS!
ains

The Jones Family said...

did i say jessica, i ment Jami., anyhooo i could have just check the blog since your are so great of a blogger now!!!

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