Special Delivery

It was 11:00pm. I had not been feeling well since we were at a Super Bowl party earlier that evening. I thought, I'll just lay down, this will pass. Being pregnant means feeling weird pretty much all the time. So, I laid down. Then I felt worse. And then worse. After I was through being sick, I thought, not again. I caught a stomach bug when I was very, very pregnant with Jude. Like, almost-due-pregnant. It was horrible. But, I suffered through it like you do everything else. You can imagine what I dreading as I got sick. Another almost-due-pregnant stomach bug. Yay fun.

And then the contractions began.

They were mild at first. No big deal. I've been having contractions off and on for weeks now. As they grew in intensity (and in regularity), I couldn't help but think is this it??? Is this the thing most women talk about, but I have never had the pleasure of experiencing? (huge dose of sarcasm here at the word pleasure).

After an hour of not so nice bathroom visits, throwing up, and super regular contractions (every 2-5 minutes apart--and did I mention that they HURT???), Ross called the on-call OB number. They told him to bring me in to the hospital for monitoring and replenishing of fluids.

By the time we call our sweet friend to come over to be with Jude and get to the hospital, I am doubled over in pain. Really? I think. This is crazy. I am supposed to have baby Ezra in 4 days. But here he is, threatening to come early and throw all of our plans off. I'm sitting on the hospital bed, the nurses are trying to hook me up to an IV, and I'm puking in a trash can. (oh yes, and Ross was sick too...very sick).

The nurses tell me they'll do the c-section in the morning even though they had stopped the labor. I didn't know what to think about that. In 12 hours, I will unexpectedly get to hold my baby??? The thought was fleeting as they pumped me so full of drugs that I was totally incoherent.

The next morning, my coherency rose, I was better. I still wasn't feeling all that great, but I was feeling better. My doctor came in to tell me she wasn't going to do the c-section because I had been sick and surgery + sickness is not a good combination. So we call our families to tell them "no baby today!" and we were all bummed. They said they'd keep me at least for the day to monitor and get more fluids in me.

However, God (and Ezra) had another plan.

The contractions started again. And they got bad quick. I was so miserable, in my head I was begging for them to take me back and birth my baby. Through one really bad (and long) contraction, Ezra's heartbeat dropped pretty low, and for a long time. That little event made the decision for the doctors. I guess the risk of little E's health was greater than mine...which I am certainly glad. They took me back, gave me a spinal block, and all was right with the world. No more contractions. No more pain. No more feeling anything. Yes, the room was cold, and I felt a little patronized as the anesthesiologist asked me if I was alright a billion times, but I couldn't feel a thing and we were on the way to holding our sweet Ezra that we've dreamed about and prayed over for the past 9 months.

But with his first cry, I knew it was all worth it. Tears slid down my face and I thought, I hear him! He is here and he is ok. All the complaining, all the pain was worth it. How sweet that first cry was. I will never forget it.

You see, I think I may have jinxed myself. When I was pregnant with Jude and found out I'd be having a planned c-section, I cried......a lot. I mourned the fact that there would be no excitement, no "its time to go to the hospital!" moment. The whole birthing experience was all planned out and I felt that somehow that took all the magic out of it. Of course, once he came, I didn't give a rip about any of that. I was just glad he was here and healthy. So, I think that since I had an un-magical birthing experience (at least in my opinion) the first time, God decided to give me something a little different this second time. This birthing experience should have been the same as the first. Un-magical and all planned out. But, it wasn't. Far from it. I'm not sure I liked it, because, well frankly, labor hurts. And I didn't even have my camera!

I even got to have my exciting "its time to go to the hospital" moment.

Now our sweet family of four!