we got to the hospital and they hooked me up, and low and behold the contractions ceased. after five straight hours of coming they put that belt around my waist and all action stopped in it's tracks. the doctor came in with a huge grin on his face... "mrs. littlejohn is this your first baby?" i laughed out loud, "no, sir this is my fourth! i know this seems like a first time mother failing... but it's not!" he kept laughing at me. checked my dilation and assessed the situation. he said, "you are at a two. based on your previous birth history i don't think this baby is coming for another week. you are not thinned out at all.. i think you should go home and get some rest. i'll give you an ambien to help you sleep." my biggest concern with the ambien is it would stop labor if i was in labor, he assured me the ambien would not stop labor. as we were leaving he saw the shere disappointment on my face and said, "you know doctors are wrong... you could be back here in hours in labor!" i smiled a fake smile and wheeled my big, fat, belly out of that place.
we got in the car and i started sobbing.... i was exhausted and an emotional mess. mark calmly reassured me that anderson would come when he was ready, and it was ALL going to be ok. he encouraged me to just enjoy my week with mom and dad. as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot it happened.... ANOTHER CONTRACTION! all the way home i contracted every 4 minutes... but i was not turning around. i was not going back to the hospital to be disappointed again. next time i was going back was when anderson's head was sticking out and i was SURE i was in labor. :)
we got home after midnight and went straight to bed... obviously, the ambien was working... i kept tossing and turning all night.. contractions came and went but i had convinced myself i was just dreaming. at 3am i sat straight up in bed with a REALLY bad contraction. i got up and started pacing the living room and the hallways. i didn't wake up mark b/c i didn't want to. i took a bath and tried to breathe. finally at 4am i woke up mark and said, "i need you!" he came in and rubbed my back and tried to gage where i was. 45 minutes later we called sweet meg to come watch the kids. at 5am we were headed back to the hospital. when we got there the same doctor was waiting for us. he still had that goofy grin on his face... "hi, mrs littlejohn!" "i am not going home this time" i stated. he laughed. he checked me and sure enough i was almost a five and i was NOT going home.
at 7 my doctor arrived to check on me. just a quick shout out to dr. furniss the best OBGYN ever! dr. furniss had delivered both julia and lucy. she had become a friend more then a doctor. she came and checked me and i was nearing a 6.. she patted my leg and said, this boy will be here before noon. i nodded.. "i know he will."
*pause for some history*
katie took forever because she was not ready to come... like i said,"hijacked from the womb!" i had an epidural.
julia came super quick. i checked in the hospital at 7am and she came at 11:21am. no epidural.
lucy came quick also. i got to the hospital at 4 am and she came at 7am. epidural this time with some complications that ended me back up in the hospital for an additional 4 days.
with anderson we had decided to forgo the epidural... for many reasons but mainly the combination of him being a whimpy white boy, family history, and past complications...
*back to story*
after 7am, both sets of parents arrived :) INCREDIBLY SPECIAL!
also at 7am, i got out of the bed and literally stood through the remainder of my labor until it was time to push.
throughout the morning i was dilating quicker then i was effacing. but both were extremely slow. even without the epidural. at 11am the doctor came to check and i was a 7... entering transition labor (the worst part of labor)... dr. furniss was a little puzzled but patient. "his coming" she said. after that check up all contractions stoppped...STOPPED! the nurses were super great. they kept telling me my body was giving me a break before the final lap. "you've got this they kept telling me!" i was frustrated but stable. i chatted with the parents, watched TV, and tried to relax.... at 1230 the contractions started again. i was still at 7. by now the contractions were so intense i was whimpering through them. 2 o'clock came and i was only an 8. and only 70% effaced. at 245 i was begging the nurses for an epidural. again, they just encouraged me. "sara, you have come so far, he is almost here! hang in there...!" most women transition only for a couple of hours. i had been in transition for 3 hours with my FOURTH baby. it was getting miserable. mark rubbed my back and rocked my waist EVERY contraction. i called it the "valley of contractions" it was AWFUL! 3:40 they checked again, i was at a 9. at this point you could tell the dad's were having a hard time sitting still through all the crying. mark decided to send them to go get the girls.. they ran out of the hospital :) the mama's stayed behind and cried through every contraction with me... :(
we were taking bets as to when AJ would arrive. mark said 4:21.. i thought he was being kind. at 4 i felt TONS of pressure... a few minutes later i began to crown and jere ran for a nurse. the nurse came in... she began to prepare the room for labor.... she said, every so kindly, "ok, sara, i want you to give me a practice push to see how close we are, then i'll go get dr. furniss... one nurse was pulling up the stirrups the other was sliding her gloves on... they said "push!" and i pushed with everything i had..... AND HE CAME at 4:21 :) no one was ready.. they started saying," stop, stop, stop!! grab the betadine, get some gloves, grab the betadine, grab the doctor, etc..." it was too late.. he came and the nurse delivered him. her name was shannon anderson :)
dad said anderson climbed the ladder to the slide all day long taking his sweet time, then he got on the slide and slid out. my practice push worked! although, my doctor was SO disappointed she missed it. she was so disappointed that she let the nurses have it for not coming and getting her the minute i was at a nine... which was her specific request on the chart... OOOOPPPPS! she ran in, hugged my neck, kissed my check, and left for the day.
they cleaned my little boy, bundled him up, and laid him in my arms...
it was love at first sight.
and guess who was there? mom! and it was more special then any words i can find.
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