Well, who would have known when I typed, “Today would not be so great to have a baby. Too much to do and snow on the ground. Still … I wouldn’t complain.” that Wednesday, Feb 5, 2014 would be the day?
The night before I was praying and asked God to give me a good night’s rest so that I could get up and pray and have a “quiet time alone with Him” before the day began. I was beginning to feel like the exhaustion and therefore lack of routine was affecting my devotional time. I really didn’t expect a baby.
So, God answers prayers. I slept from 12 – 7:30 with only two bathroom breaks. Miraculous!!! God knew I needed that sleep.
Wednesday around here is Master Club day and bath day on top of other normal chores. Henceforth “too much to do.” But right away something was different about the day though. I don’t normally have contractions DURING the day. I have them at night or during naps when my body isn’t busy, but I started having them during breakfast.
Not one to get my hopes up, I just kind of tried to notice if there was any regularity. They just kept coming. We all had our baths and were getting hair done. (This is why I looked nice in the pictures. I was planning on going to church so I just got ready for the day). Well, contractions kept coming somewhere between 5 – 15 minutes apart. They weren’t super powerful, but not really easy either.
Well, after lunch and dishes I was EXHAUSTED. I went to take my traditional afternoon nap a little bit before 2:00. Except I couldn’t sleep through the contractions. That was my first major sign. I took my phone in and saw that they were coming right on clockwork every five minutes apart.
I got up and sent Rick an e-mail at 2:33 entitled “Don’t want to get my hopes up.” Contractions are still coming. Not anything super regular. Regular enough where I called the Birthing Center just to give them a “maybe’ tonight or tomorrow, but nothing definite.
This was the time I posted a few “random things” on Facebook. I was trying to distract myself. It’s funny to see it all in retrospect. My sister Julie later posted, “Three hours ago my sister posted something on Facebook about something random. I’m pretty sure she was at home when she posted…6 minutes ago, she had a baby… How fast was that?”
About 2:45 I was feeling a bit more serious about this whole thing and called and left a message that I should know by 4:00 if Rick needed to come home.
By 3:00 I sent him a message, “Please come home now.” I started thinking of all the last minute stuff that needed to be packed and by this time I was laying down and doing some deep breathing to get through the contractions and couldn’t do much of anything.
( I have such good kids. They took the final load of laundry out of the dryer for me and were so excited for the baby they just put it all away so we could “go to the Rasmussens.” Why I cared about laundry, I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t want to come home to laundry.)
I called all the necessary people and off we went. I know I said it in Silas’ story but off we went on the “bumpiest road in Nampa.” OH I HATE THAT ROAD. Then we got stuck behind a bus dropping off kids from school. Thankfully it turned. Then we made it to the Rasmussens around 4:20 and contractions were about 3 minutes apart about 90 sec long. I am so glad I didn’t wait until 4:00 to call Rick. We apparently wouldn’t have made it.
I was surviving … until I had to stand up to get into the Birthing Center. I quickly found a way to lay back down.
I was dilated to 6 at 4:50, but also felt like I was going to die. Then that uncomfortable urge to “use the facilities” came around. OH! How embarrassing. I did NOT want to do that in front of anyone, so Rick nicely escorted me to “somewhere private.” Upon standing up again, I … well … didn’t think I could do this anymore. I spent the next four contractions in my “private area” being embarrassed and not willing to stand up.
(Let me backtrack a bit. All of my labors have been 4 – 8 hours long of HARD labor. I did not expect anything to happen. If I had known, I might have taken the necessary measures to get to the proper area.)
So, here I was in my own little “private torture chamber” hearing of all songs, Just One More Soul and the chorus chipperly going on … “A lifetime of labor is still worth it all” … and I just prayed, “Oh God. Please help me.”
WEEEEELLLLLLLLL, the next contraction came and that “irresistible urge to push came out of nowhere.” I yelled, “Get the ladies in here NOW!!!!!!” Boy were they fast. There he was about to get his first “bath” if they didn’t get him fast enough. YUCK!
Out came his head … next contraction … shoulders … move me to a bed … next contraction … all the gross stuff after you have the baby. 8lbs., 8 oz, 21″ at 5:25 PM. No bleeding. Praise the Lord!
I am very thankful there were no complications. There was meconium in the bag when it broke and I am thankful he never inhaled any. This is the first birth where I didn’t have problems with bleeding afterward. I think God just had mercy on my poor little (or not so little) tired body. I have remembered often one of Sam Gipps letters this year when he described going in for neck surgery. He said, “It’s not that the pain is worse. I am just weary of the pain.” Exactly!
As I had just posted the story of Silas’s birth and entitled it “The Golden Child,” Aaron Sundstrom suggested in lieu of Colton’s birth we nickname him “The Porcelain Child.” Cute, but I don’t think so. HA!
So, that is the story of Colton’s birth.
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