Friday, February 1st started off like any other day. I was 36 weeks, 3 days pregnant. Pregnancy insomnia had kept me up until 3:30am, so I began the day already exhausted. Eric went off to work and thankfully my friend Sally Ann had came over with her girls for a play date. I was so thankful for the company and an ear to complain to about how tired and sore I was. The children played and I had on and off contractions throughout the morning. I had been having contractions for a few months now, but these that morning were more intense and closer together. Sally Ann and her girls left about 11 and she had helped me get all my children in our van. My plan was to kill some time and walk around Target. However, we never ended up at Target. I felt like I could barely walk and so I didn't think a shopping trip was going to work. So I called my OB office and explained my situation and how I was feeling. The nurse talked with the doctor and they said I need to immediately come in. So the children and I headed to the office and I prayed the whole time they would be very well behaved and we would make it through. The children were great! The all sat in the waiting room chairs while I tried to hold it together and not make a scene about the amount of pain I was in. The OB checked me and I was 3.5-4 cm dilated. Since I was only 1 cm a day prior she determined I was indeed in labor and I needed to head to the hospital. When she reported this I instantly started crying. I said, "I don't know why I'm crying or why I am so emotional." The doctor's response? She said, "because this is not an ideal situation!" as she was looking around at all the children at my feet. So we headed home, I called Sally Ann to come back to my house to watch my children, and I ran upstairs and got all my stuff together. As soon as Eric got home we headed to the hospital and up to Labor and Delivery. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon. Eventually my OB, Dr. Goodwin, who happened to be on call that day (she has delivered Hampton and Eleanor) came in to check me. We were so happy to see her! I was about 4 cm dilated. She called anesthesia to see about an epidural. We discussed my previous epidurals and how they eventually "wore off." In the end we decided to give it a try. I am so glad we did because up until the very end, it relieved a lot of the pain. After the epidural was placed my OB checked me again. I was 6 cm dilated at about 3:30 and she broke my water. Contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart at this point. And so I labored. At about 6:24 I was checked again I was 7 cm and felt like I was getting close. And I was. At 6:45 I was 8 cm and 90 percent effaced. At this point I started to feel very nauseous and my OB decided to stay in the room. She knew it would be any minute. And it was. It gets blurry at this point, but I know the next time she checked me I was 10 cm and 100% effaced. I pushed for about 5 minutes, pushed 3 times (and I felt every bit of the pain), and he was out! It was 7:21 pm. During that time the OB and nurses kept saying "I've never seen this before." It of course scared me, but they were referring to the fact that Thatcher had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck 4 times! Crazy, active boy. The doctor immediately placed him on my chest and he screamed! We spent the next hour admiring him and then he was eventually cleaned up, weighed, and then nursed for 30 minutes. He had an APGAR of almost 9, weighed 6 pounds 15 oz (our biggest baby), and was 19 inches long. It was then up to the mother/baby unit. Although he is technically premature, he is perfect. We know we are blessed.
