You Are So Beautiful

Thursday, June 26, 2008
8:00am - The Doctor wanted us to call in to the hospital to be induced this morning. The hospital tells us that the rooms are all full and that they would call us back at 10am.

10:30am - We hadn't heard from them, so we call the hospital again. No rooms had freed up, so they said we should try back at 1:00pm.

1:00pm - We call the hospital and are told they are still busy, but they had talked to Julie's doctor, who said he wanted her in TODAY, so we should try back at 5:00pm. The doctor was going to be leaving for vacation, so it was now or never with him.

4:15pm - The hospital calls us and say things have cleared up, and they are hoping to get us in by 6:00pm.

5:30pm - The hospital calls again saying to come in!! We immediately leave, dropping the kids off at two of our friends homes and pick up Wendy's (for me) for dinner.

6:30pm - Arrive at the hospital and assigned to Room 234.

8:30pm - Start the inducing by pumping pitocin into Julie. She is having regular contractions even before the pitocin, but she says they are not too painful yet.

9:00pm - Doctor comes and checks Julie - the head is a little more applied than a week before. She is dilated to almost 3cm and 25% effaced.

9:15pm - We spend much of the evening watching 'Last Comic Standing' and 'So You Think You Can Dance.' Julie prefers standing or sitting in a chair to being in bed, since her back hurts more in bed.

11:20pm - Contractions are fairly frequent and uncomfortable.

Friday, June 27, 2008
2:45am - Julie is really having a hard time. There has been no progress, and she is tired, uncomfortable, hungry, can't sleep, and is worried they will have to do a C-section.

4:30am - The pitocin is up as high as they want to take it.

5:00am - We start walking the 'beautiful' hallways of the hospital to help get the baby's head further down so they can break the water.

6:25am - Julie is dilated 3cm and 50% effaced. The doctor breaks her water with a hook. We spend the time watching Wimbledon on TV.

7:15am - Julie starts having really strong contractions. After a full 12-hour shift, we have a new nurse, Jeri.

7:30am - The anesthesiologist comes in to give Julie the epidural. She is really busy, and does it faster than I have ever seen anyone do it. Very impressive.

7:45am - The doctor comes and checks Julie. She is still only 3cm, but the head is further engaged.

8:00am - Finally Julie is able to sleep.

9:00am - The doctor checks her and she is now 4cm and 75% effaced.

12:00pm - The nurse checks her and she is now 5-6cm.

1:30pm - The doctor checks her and she is still 5-6cm.

1:40pm - The epidural isn't working very well for Julie and she is in a lot of pain and very uncomfortable. She says, "I can't have any more babies!" I turn the TV from tennis to some nice music, and hold her hand to try and help her relax.

3:30pm - The nurse checks her and she is finally 'thinned-out' and the head is moving down well - hooray!

4:10pm - The nurse checks her again and she is 8-9cm and the cervix is gone.

4:45pm - The doctor says she is ready to push and so she does.

4:51pm - After pushing through several contractions, the baby is out, breathing, and screaming. I cut the umbilical cord with one hand while video taping with the other hand. It is the longest we've waited for a baby, but will probably be the easiest recovery, since Julie didn't need any stitches or anything. Through all of this, Julie was very strong - doing all that work for 23 hours on very little food or sleep. I have never seen her stronger than at this moment.

5:20pm - The hospital is still short-handed, and we still just have the one nurse. So it takes awhile before he is weighed and given his first bath. We call our family.

7:00pm - I drive to pick up the kids from the two houses and bring them to the hospital. They get to see and hold the baby. I wasn't going to let Ryan, who is two, hold him, but he cried, "My turn," so I had to let him. After dropping them back off, I pick up dinner and head back to the hospital. Julie finally gets to eat.

11:00pm - After the baby eats several times, he goes to sleep in the nursery and sleeps all night - for about 7 hours!

Saturday, June 29, 2008
11:00am - I pick up the kids and head to lunch at McDonalds, allowing them to play for a while. I then take them to another friends house for the afternoon and head back to the hospital.

5:30pm - Still no pediatrician. He is supposed to visit the baby within 24 hours of birth, but no one can get ahold of him. Finally, at the end of the day, they get an on-call pediatrician to check the baby out, so we don't have to stay another night.

6:00pm - We are able to leave the hospital. I drop off Julie at home and then pick up the kids. Like when Ryan was born, two years prior, there is a heat wave here, and the temperature is close to 100 degrees. We don't have air conditioning, so it is warm.