Our precious baby boy, William Curtis, was born on Saturday, January 5, 2013. He arrived early in the morning at 4:13, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring 19.5 inches. I began contractions the evening before around 4:30 PM. Rick was golfing and after a few rounds of contractions I texted him to come home. He immediately responded that he was headed home. He later told me he actually left the 18th hole with out even finishing he was so excited! We got our bags packed and loaded the car. I was pretty sure this "was it" but I still worried that we would arrive to the hospital and be turned away because I wasn't close enough. The drive was rough...on every contraction I would try to stretch out in my seat to get comfortable. I kept telling Rick to "just get me to the hospital." We arrived to triage, where I was hooked up to a heart rate and contraction monitor. Rick was amazing, rubbing my feet and legs on each contraction and getting me water to stay hydrated. Our midwife, Lynn, happened to be on call that evening and greeted us shortly after arriving. She examined me and reported that in only 2 hours I was already 6 cm! I was relieved to know that I already had progressed that much as I was VERY uncomfortable. Sadly, our midwife informed us that her shift was over and that we would have another midwife and/or doctor (whatever we felt more comfortable with) delivering William. She gave us a hug, I changed into a robe and a nurse walked us to our room where I would deliver. Once in the room, Rick began making calls to our parents, Mandy, Jen Stewart, and the Roods. Mandy was able to get a flight out of LA that evening and our parents began the long drive up. Rick was an amazing coach, encouraging me to breath through each contraction and trying to make me as comfortable as possible.
We had attended all of the "birthing classes" that Kaiser offers and were on the same page about whether or not we felt comfortable with an epidural. I had the mind set/goal to go as far as possible without one with the hopes that I could make it through delivery, but I was not completely against one either. Rick had the mindset that he was going to support whatever made me happy! :) I remember the first hour in the delivery room being "manageable." I waited for each contraction to come and would take in a deep breath and focus on Rick's face. He would rub my hands or feet (hard) to keep my mind focused on something else. I remember the feeling of satisfaction when each contraction would be over..."okay, I can do this." And then, "oh no! If that one was big, what is the next one going to be like?" By this time, my sweet friend, Jen arrived, camera in tow ready to capture our moments together before little Will arrived. Working together, with one goal in our minds...GET HIM HERE!!!!
Everything, of course, was so foreign to me. Even with all of the classes, I wasn't sure the questions to ask, or to be even sure what was "normal" in this situation. I remember walking the room, bouncing on a ball, and bending over the bed trying to get in the best position to feel as comfortable as possible. While I was pacing the room and Rick was scrambling for the next possible suggestion to offer for the next cycle, our nurse stood their at the computer with barely any interaction with us...not offer of assistance (they do still do this, right?) or a calming voice to assist my sweet husband. The only time I remember her speaking to me was when she had to take my blood pressure, which oddly was always around the time that I was having a contraction...UNCOMFORTABLE!!! Thankfully, Jen (mother of 4) would calmly inform them that I was "in the middle of a contraction and that's why she can't talk to you right now." Yeah...shouldn't they recognize those signals too?
After 2.5 hours, I decided I was ready to get some relief and requested the anesthesiologist. That perked the nurse right up, and she immediately put in the order. After she made the order, she took a break and another nurse came into check my progress. It was at that time that I literally wanted to punch this nurse in the face it was so painful. She reported that I was at an 8, and double checked that I wanted the epidural. I confirmed that, yes, I had already made the decision, and yes, I wanted an epidural. It felt like FOREVER until the anesthesiologist came in. Blake and Becky arrived around the same time as he did. They quickly said hello and then waited outside until the epidural was administered. The doctor went through all of the side effects of the epidural...all I heard was "yadayadayadayada"...okay already, "give me the drugs!" :) It took a long time for him to place it...I kept complaining that I felt the needle to the right of my back rather than in the middle. He placed it again and said that I was ready. I laid back, and waited a good 10 minutes for my last contraction to pass. Oh glorious day! I got comfortable in the bed, laughing about how weird my legs felt. The nurse examined me and reported that I was almost 9 cm! It was around that time that I met Allison, the midwife on duty, and the new nurse, Mary Jo. Allison got a kick out of the fact that our parents were caravaning up to be here for the birth of baby Will. My water had not yet broken on its own, so she gave me the option of breaking it to speed up labor or waiting a bit in order to give our parents more time to possibly make it for the delivery. I opted to wait a bit in order to rest.
Blake, Becky, and Jen came back in to the room, we chatted about how excited we all were for this to finally be happening and I was in THE BEST MOOD that I could actually focus on the people in front of me! :) Blake informed me that my sister had booked and was already on the flight from Los Angeles...He would be picking her up around 10:15. The crazy thing is that my sister had no idea who would be picking her up...she just got the first flight she saw, made a call to Rick and they decided Blake would make the drive. So before he left, we gave him a good description of what she looked like (because he had never even met her), showed a quick pick, and he was off.
I was in good enough spirits to make a few phone calls. We knew that our parents had been on the road now for about 3 hours...the total trip usually takes about 8-9 hours, so I was shocked to learn they were already over the grapevine...lucky for all of us there was no traffic in LA (God is Good).
Mandy arrived around 10:30. I will never forget how excited she was when she walked in. Blake and Becky left shortly after she arrived leaving Rick, Jen, and Mandy in the room. The three of them were a great support. Jen knew a lot of the questions to ask our doctor, Mandy gave me hand massages, and Rick was right there with chapstick and water when I needed it. I was constantly being checked to make sure my water hadn't broken. I was not in pain, but was feeling a lot of pressure. Our midwife, Allison came in around 1:30/2:00am and asked how I was feeling. It was at that time that I was READY...I had a lot of pressure and had an incredible urge to push. She checked me and let me know I was at a +1 (huh? I still don't know exactly what this means) and I was definitely ready to go.
-To be continued-
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