Before The Beginning

Tuesday, June 27, 2006, I didn't go to work. I had had a horrible night with contractions and decided not to go into work. I made an appointment to see my OB-GYN that day to see what was going on since they had been saying I would be giving birth any day for the past 2 weeks. As I was going up to Orem to their office, a huge rock hit our windshield making a pretty good sized pit. I was so mad! That meant I had to go get that darn thing fixed after my appointment and before I could go home to bed!

At my appointment Dr. Gammet checked me out and pulled out my mucous plug (It was nasty!). He said by the end of the week I should have this baby.

I went out looking for a rock chip repair stand that I had seen on State Street in Orem. I found it but nobody was there. I was MAD! I then had to go all the way down to Provo to the glass window fix-it company over by the hospital. I got there, pretty steamed and asked how long it would take them to fix it because the last time I had been there I had to wait like 45 minutes. They told me 10 minutes. I said, "OK, do your business". It was finally fixed and I got to go home to rest.

I got home, laid on the couch for 45 minutes and then decided I wanted to make a ham dinner with mashed potatoes and a pineapple upside down cake (Jenny, my sinster, says that this was my energy burst right before giving birth). That night, Cesar had to work. So we had a lovely dinner and I sent him on his way assuring him nothing was going to happen tonight. Anyway, we had set up a plan that IF something was to happen I was to have his parents take me to the hospital.

Well, I go to bed at 9:00 pm. The contractions start. At first I don't pay attention and try to ignore them so I can go to sleep. But then they become really regular and decide to time them. They are 5 minutes apart. I try to convince myself that I can deal with them and that first babies always take along time to come. At 11:30 pm I am in such pain and in tears. I call Cesar at work. His supervisor answers the phone and I am in tears telling him to have Cesar call me ASAP because I am having a baby. Cesar calls 5 minutes later and asks what is going on. I tell him I don't want his parents to take me to the hospital and that he needs to come home now and take me to the hospital. He says okay and hangs up.

I start getting the last minute stuff packed, but not very quickly as I have to stop doing what I'm doing each time a contraction comes.

Cesar comes home, I'm trying to carry the suitcase up the stairs. He stops me, says that he will do it and asks if he can take a quick shower before we go. I tell him yes, but to make it really quick.

We finally get in the car around12:30 am on the 28th. Cesar drives 100 mph to the hospital. I get freaked out and tell him to slow down.

We get to the hospital and get all settled in and they measure me and I'm just at 3 cm! I could have died. I thought I was going to be able to make it without any medication but I was dying at 3 cm! They said that they would let me stay and would check me in an hour to see if I would progress. If I wasn't progressing, they would send me home.

In an hour I was at 4 cm and dying. Poor Cesar had to push my knees towards my stomach each time a contraction came to make the pain bearable. At that point they admitted me and I said I wanted an epidural. They said it might take a while because the anesthesiologist was with another patient. I said okay but just make sure he gets to me. Not 10 minutes pass by when the anesthesiologist comes by and says, "I hear somebody needs an epidural". I said, "I thought it was gonna be awhile". He says, "The lady wasn't prepped". Or something and therefore he couldn't give it to her. He did his business and it didn't hurt at all--he even had to prick me twice to get it in right. After that, it was great! I felt nothing and was very comfortable. In fact, here is a picture of me drugged up!


After the epidural, I just tried to sleep and watched TV. It's great having cable! I progressed pretty slowly and didn't start actively pushing until about 3:00 that afternoon. They were supposed to give me antibiotics because I had Strep B, but they didn't give it to me soon enough before Andrew was born, so the poor kid had to have an IV of antibiotics taped to his right arm. Andrew's head was turned to the right, so that is why he wasn't coming out. So, Dr. Dayton said that he would try to get him out with forceps, but if he couldn't he would have to do a C-section. At that point I was pushing and praying hard that this little guy would come out of me. Dr. Dayton was able to get him out at 5:28 pm on Wednesday, June 28, 2006 after 20 hours of labor! He was 8 pound 13 ounces and was 20 inches long! With a full head of black hair!