The chick has hatched!

(I love this blanket Judy made... it reminds me of a little chick!)

I was considering not posting the details of the birth. I always think it is kind of funny how women always talk about their birthing experiences. I think it is probably the most often told of all of our human experiences and I'm not sure why. Anyway, everyone I talk to wants to know exactly how it all came about... so here it is.

Let me begin by saying, as we were waiting for it to be "time," things seemed to go from bad to worse around our house. Oliver stuck some headphones into the power cord slot on my laptop and made it unusable, Megan (the dog) got diarrhea, and our washing machine broke. I kept telling Tucker, "If you're waiting for a better time... I'm so sorry, but it's not coming!"

Anyway, I wasn't able to see my doctor until about 4pm on Tuesday, April 1st. He checked and I was at about 4.5 centimeters, but I hadn't really felt any contractions since Sunday morning. On Sunday morning, I had my usual 4 hours of steady contractions, then they just stopped. Anyway, he did a very "thorough" exam to see if we could kick things into gear and told me that if I hadn't had the baby by Saturday, I could opt to be "induced" or I could just see him again the next week. I was feeling pretty happy since I knew if I went to the hospital now, with contractions, they wouldn't send me home (after a 4 they will keep you).

I got home and Tyler was busy and Emmaline needed to go to a soccer game in Kaysville (about 30 minutes away) so I headed out the door with her. I wasn't feeling any contractions as we set out (about 5 pm). I got stuck in traffic and started to notice that I was having "pain" at regular intervals. I don't know how to describe it since it was different than anything I had experienced. It wasn't tightening, cramping or anything like that.... it hurt! I called Tyler and he told me to turn around and come home. I decided, instead, to drop Emmaline off (I was almost there by that time!) and talk to a parent to have her brought home after the game. One of the other mothers REALLY wanted to ride with me, but I felt a little uncomfortable since I didn't really know her and I was sure I was hours away from delivery.

I got home at about 6:45 and started getting dinner ready, the last bit of clothes folded and a few things like that. I was thinking I would wait until Megan got here (she was already on her way since she wasn't working on Wednesday). It wasn't long before I started really hurting and decided to head to the hospital. This was a little after 8 p.m. It took us a little while to make it to the desk and people kept trying to direct Tyler to where the check-in was because I was stopping in the hallway, focusing and waiting for contractions to stop. Anyway, by the time we got to a room I was at a 6. They started the first I.V. antibiotics for the Beta Strep infection that I had. We had some difficulty getting it in (I guess they hit a valve)... but eventually it was all in and the nurse went to call my doctor. I got on the birthing ball and started telling Tyler that I was in a LOT of pain (this seemed to me about 20 minutes after the nurse had checked me). Tyler asked me if I was in "transition" and I thought I surely wasn't because she had just checked me. He was sure I was because my entire body was shaking and I HURT! He went to start a bath to see if I could calm down and found that they had given me a room without a tub. We decided I should stand up and see if it helped. Immediately when I stood up, I realized that I was almost done. It felt like everything was about to fall out and the contractions were constant.

Right at that moment of realization, the nurse walked in and said, "I talked to Dr. Burgett and he said just what I thought he would. You need to keep the baby in for 4 more hours so we can get one more dose of the antibiotic in." And that is when I lost it and said "Then I have to have an epidural."

I was crying my eyes out (Tyler said I wasn't, but I know I was because, even then, I was thinking I sounded just like Savannah when she cries) and yelling. It was the ultimate April Fool's joke. It felt like 3 weeks previous when I went in and they told me "If you were further along, we would go ahead and let you have this baby, but since you're not... we need to try and stop these contractions." This pregnancy and now this labor was NEVER going to end. She followed it up by saying, "If you just can't wait it's okay... it would just be better if you waited." But you know, you really can't reason with a woman in transition. I truly thought I could wait 4 hours with an epidural. I waited 1 hour with Savannah when they told me I needed to wait since things were going too quickly. But it was not to be. By the time I got the epidural (about 4 more contractions, I think, with me almost pulling Tyler's thumb out of socket) I was at a 10, my water had broken and his head was ready to come out. The nurse said, "I really don't think he can sit like that for 4 hours."

So that's the story. I delivered at 10:14. Not exactly how I planned, but, I guess, exactly how it was to be. I wish that I could have had the calm, relaxed birth that I had with Oliver... but Tucker is healthy and I have had my usual quick recovery, so all is well. He is sure a cutie with his crazy hair and we love him already... even though he is boring (as Emmaline says).

It's so hard to be a baby!=)