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Jonah's Birth

I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy with my first son Jonah Richard. He was not a planned pregnancy, but how many firsts are? The only remarkable thing about being pregnant with him was gaining 80 lbs and not exploding before I had him!

The due date for him was December 1, 1995, but the day came and went, my husband and I were in the process of selling a business, so it was the usual work day for us. The following day we spent at home, and Rene went out to a Christmas party. I was so big by that point, I really didn't feel like going anywhere in the evenings. That was my time to put my feet up. Anyway, I went to bed around 11pm, and Rene came in shortly after 1am.

At 4:30am, my usual time to wake up for my potty break, I rolled over, and my water broke. The funniest thing about this moment is that you are told in your pregnancy classes that it will be a small gush... Well, let me tell you, there was no such thing in that bed that night! The whole side of the bed was wet (thank goodness for waterbeds, just take everything off and throw it in the washing machine, wipe it down, and you're ready to go!) and amniotic fluid was still pouring out! I told Rene to wake up, and I sat up, sitting on my heel to stop the gushing, and he says to me, "Are you sure you're not peeing?" "No," I told him, "I don't think so!" So he ran off to the bathroom to get a towel to pull up between my legs so we could get into the bathroom so I could stand in the tub. This took about 2 or 3 minutes, and once we got to the tub, there was still fluid pouring from me. Mind you, maybe that was why I was so big, so much fluid in there!

Anyway, Rene called the hospital, and they told us to come in by 8am, even though I still had no contractions to that point. I thought that was kind of silly, but we said ok, and I sent Rene back to bed. I couldn't sleep knowing that things were finally starting to happen, so I went and played solitaire on the computer for an hour or so, before starting to make phone calls to our family. In that time, the contractions started, about 5 minutes apart, but not painful. Rene came out of the bedroom, and said that we might as well go to the hospital, he couldn't sleep anymore either.

We arrived at the hospital about 7:30 am, and my doctor, a family practitioner with a specialty in maternity, was just leaving after delivering another baby. He said that he probably wouldn't be there, he would be spending the afternoon with his kids. That was fine with us, his partner would be there. (Just an aside, I have the most fantastic, laid back, easy going doctor in the whole wide world! LOL) So if we had the baby before 6 pm he wouldn't be there. His parting instructions to the triage nurse was that I was to recieve whatever meds I wanted, and to go along with any requests I had, bless his heart!

After I was checked, I was only at 3cm, but because of slight meconium staining, they kept me at the hospital. I was moved to a birthing room, and Rene and I set up camp. We walked the halls, went in the shower, watched tv, played many hands of crib, and read a bit. At 4pm, the contractions were bad enough that I wanted a shot of something, ANYTHING! I got a shot of demerol, but it really didn't do anything, it usually makes me really loopy, but nothing at all, and I was still only 6 cm at that point. At 6pm, I had finally had enough, and I was tired, so I asked for the epidural. I was lucky because there were only 2 others in the labor ward at that time, so the anesthetist was able to get to me fairly soon after. By 6:30pm, I was sound asleep, and so was Rene, we were both exhausted.

At about 9:30pm, the nurse came in and woke us, just as my epi was wearing off. She told us it was time to push, so I asked for another top up on my epidural, and I got it, and I started pushing. Unfortunately, the worst part of my labor was to come. I pushed and pushed and got nowhere. The nurse called the doctor in at 11 pm, and he was there shortly after. He said not to worry, the baby was fine, I was fine, and that things would happen. He then went to watch the monologue of David Letterman (told you he was laid back!) and he would be back in 20 minutes, and if things hadn't progressed, he would then get the vacuum. I think he knew what he was talking about! I had this cute little English nurse telling me "PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH.... !" I told her I couldn't hold my breath that long! Rene had a good laugh, although I think he felt somewhat displaced, the nurses weren't terribly encouraging to have him help me out at all.

Well, 20 minutes later, the doctor came back, and he had just enough time to get his gloves on to catch Jonah. He was born at 12:30 am, December 4, 1995, after 20 hours of labor. I promptly told Rene if that was all labor was, we could do it again! I had about 12 stiches inside, much to my surprise, expecting worse, and the worst hemerroids. Rene still laughs about the golf balls attached to my butt! *LOL*

Now, 2 1/2 years later, here we are, with the due date of June 8, 1998. Another uncomplicated pregnancy, but alot less weight gain. This will be baby Bailey, boy or girl, and Jonah is hoping for a baby sister. I think its so he won't have to share his toys. *LOL*

Good luck to all of you expectant mothers! Just remember, get your sleep now! Its wrecked for the next 20 years, or until they move out!

Julie Zankl