Precious memories

13 years ago today, even at this very hour (2:10 a.m.), I was in the process of delivering my firstborn into the world. Little did I know her labor and delivery would be my longest..... only about 9 hours of active labor. It was a fairly typical hospital delivery. Unmedicated except for 1 shot of Stadol, and I don't know why they gave it to me... I didn't ask for it. My water had broken and the nurses were not checking my progress until shortly before I was able to start pushing. (They finally checked me when I told them, "If it's going to hurt more than this, I think I'll need something!") Turns out my cervix was complete and I didn't know it... wasn't having a real strong urge to push (maybe because I was flat on my back). I was quite thrilled to be able to start pushing, and after about 50 minutes, Emily Kate arrived at 2:54 a.m.

9 years ago today, at this same time, I was awakened from a very short sleep by contractions signalling the imminent arrival of Noah Luke. I had gone to bed at 12:30, thinking I would not be seeing this baby until the new year. Less than 2 hours later, labor had begun. Noah was 9 days late and I had persuaded my family practice doc to attempt to jumpstart my labor with some prostaglandin gel earlier in the day (noonish). I hadn't noticed that it was doing anything when I went to bed, but evidently it kicked in once I went to sleep. It was a very manageable labor. I sat and played solitaire at the computer and timed my contractions by the clock on the desktop. I woke my husband around 3 and called my best friend (a doula) who was in town for the weekend. When she said that she would shower and come over, I decided a shower sounded like a good idea. Maybe it was... maybe it wasn't. I wasn't in the shower too long before my contractions became double-peaking. I got out and felt that urge to go to the bathroom.... my water broke on the toilet and I immediately felt that urge to push. I got on my hands and knees (somewhere in all this, I had grabbed a housedress and put it on) and assumed a knee-chest position so that I wouldn't push. My friend arrived to find me still in that position in the bathroom floor... she gave a quick look-see and shouted to my husband, "Brian, I see the head!" He immediately put in a call to the base ER (we were living on base in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, at the time). The staff in the ER recognized his voice (he was a nurse in the ICU there)... we wound up with an ambulance crew, the base cops, and the base firefighters all at our house. They arrived just in time to toss my husband a bulb syringe to suction the baby. Noah arrived around 3:50 a.m., after about an hour and a half of labor (at least, that was all I was awake for!) including maybe 10 minutes of pushing. He was 8 pounds 12.9 ounces....compared to Emily's 5 pounds 15 oz. Yet, he was so much "easier" to get out! (But not my easiest... I was telling Mellie Helen earlier today about how my last 2 babies arrived with only 1 push each. Am I lucky or what??)