A Baby Story

Here's what happened:

Thursday, May 13 my dear doctor left for CA for the weekend. I tried to hold real still until Monday so I wouldn't go into labor without her (esp. Thursday, when my old employer, Dr. Westin was on call! Awkward.). On Monday, May 17 I went in for an appointment, at which Dr. Maucieri 'stripped my membranes.' TMI? I don't even know what that means really, except that there was a slight chance it would induce labor. After my visit to the clinic, I found Oliver and Andrew at the wood shop and we went walking around town...FOREVER, as I was determined to do anything to get this babe out. Oliver rode his bike, actually, and I can't believe he has legs left on his little body after that day. While walking I had consistent contractions 3-4 min. apart. Exciting, right? Well, when I stopped, so did the contractions. Aw rats. After covering upwards of 20 city blocks, I brought Olives home, he took a nap, I mowed lawn, we went back to town and walked/biked some more. Although I felt like I could possibly deliver this baby while walking, as soon as I stopped I felt fine as frog's hair. At 9:30pm I got the wild hair to go to Wal-Mart for some Castor oil. Anna's sister-in-law drank some at the end of her pregnancy and it sent her into labor. We packed up a tired little Olive, drove across town, got the gunk, and I choked down 2 tsp. You can imagine my acute disappointment going to bed Mon. night without the faintest cramp...only to pop awake at 1:45 with an intense CONTRACTION! I timed them for 45 min. or so, woke Andrew up, he called his mom to come be with our sleeping boy, and by 3:10 we were on our way to the hospital! I was excited and yet somewhat fearful, thinking this could possibly be a false alarm. Not so. When we got to our room, I told the charge nurse I wanted an epidural ASAP, which in anesthesiologist world must mean there's no rush, patient is comfortable...after the nurse finally found my vein (ouch!), and got the I.V. of plain fluid going, I was ready to wring a neck while waiting for pain relief. I had heard a little about 'hypno baby,' which is basically telling yourself, "My body was made for this. I don't feel pain. Etc.," so I tried it. Bologna. The gal doing the epidural had a STUDENT WITH HER! Are you kidding me?! Most painful forever of my life, plus by this time I felt like I should be PUSHING, not holding as still as possible while having an 8 inch needle sent through my spine. As soon as they got that medicine pumping I said, "Okay, I think I should push now." Dr. Maucieri just happened to come into the delivery room, not expecting to be needed for a while longer (considering I had been there just under two hours and my history of delivery was more like 14 hours of labor before pushing). The nurses scurried around prepping the room while I panicked, knowing what I had to do next. I was really hoping I would be able to lay there comfortably basking in the glory of this God-given medicine for a few minutes at least, but no. I gave a few good pushes, may have even screamed and cried, and she was out! With my sweet little Oliver I pushed for a solid 3 hrs. before he finally came. The duration of this push was 5 min. MAX. The doctor said, "She's not very big!" I said, "It's a girl?!" I was completely shocked! I had myself so convinced it was going to be a girl, I thought there was no way it could be. So there you go, labor and delivery - 1:45 to 5:30. Result: Georgianna Lynn, a sweet blessing from Jesus, now wearing so many of our kisses and so much pink...except when she's wearing Oliver's caterpillar jammies. She's already showing signs of silliness in her character by way of her crossed eyes and her hair -it's hysterical. After we gave her her first bath she looked like a spring chick, all fuzzed out. Speaking of yellow, she was quite jaundice by Sat., so had to be on a bili blanket for a few days. She's looking rosy now, though. And just as pretty as a picture. God is so GRACIOUS.

"He has made all things beautiful..." Ecclesiastes 3:11