We got up at 5:30 in the morning to call the hospital, per the instructions we'd been given. Lisa's friend Chris and her kids had spent the night so she could babysit and we were set to go.
But the hospital was jam packed with mother's in labor, and they asked us to wait another hour. It was a miserable day - rain and gloom and muggy heat - and I was beginning to think the induction would be delayed at least until Wednesday.
At least the delay gave us time to say goodbye to the kids. And what a jam-packed house it was!
We arrived at Columbia-St. Mary's (what a wonderful lakefront drive it is from our house, btw) at about 7:30. We sat in registration for awhile [where we learned from a gossip rag that Amy Fischer and Joey Buttafuco are DATING again - dear Lord!] then headed up to Labor and Delivery on the 4th floor.
There we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The nurses explained that they were busy with a full house of patients giving birth, which was fine . . .but I never thought I'd live to see the day when I'd be bitter at the sight of a pregnant woman, moaning in labor pains, skipping us in line and delaying us some more.
It's times like this that dorks like me, with our 'two books per person per packed bag' rule, come in handy.
Sometime around 10 I woke Lisa up from a nap in the waiting room and we were escorted to LDR5, where all the action was to take place.
A medical student asked some questions, a nurse took some vitals, and Lisa was examined.
At 10:10 she was 3cm dilated, 50% effaced with the baby at -1.
A potocin drip - what Lis calls the 'devils serum' - was started and the day officially began.
If you think Lisa's half-sarcastic 'thumbs up' is dorky, check out my 'picture smile'.
Not a whole lot happened in the next few hours. I left to go to the cafeteria for a bite to eat, and we sat and read. Somewhere in this time Lis asked me to call her Mom and ensure that she would be there for the delivery, and she arrived speedy quick.
That's pretty much the whole story prior to noon.
At 12:33 Dr. Helf arrived for an examination. She remained at 3cm and 50%, but Helf broke her bag of water and things began to speed up. The contractions, which had been rolling in at 2 to 3 minute intervals, were now stronger to boot.
Almost exactly at 1pm Lisa began getting an epideral. It did not go as smoothly as it had in the past, with Lis reduced to tears after the needle induced pain along the left side of her body, and the process dragged on for nearly half an hour. Afterwards her legs quickly went completely numb, though she continued to feel some pain, especially on the left side of her groin.
2pm found her still at 3 cm but 70% effaced. The next hour was spent watching Myth Busters and Dr. Phil.
Lisa was growing increasingly grouchy and annoyed with me and her Mom, and even through the epideral the escalating pain was apparent.
At 3:40, convinced something was wrong with the epideral, she paged the nurse.
Meanwhile, having remembered the abrupt conclusions to each of her labors [I nearly missed Parker's birth, having stepped outside for a cigarrette when all was well and returning to the birth itself] I started to think the baby was on the way.
The nurse, who had monitoring the scans from the desk, arrived with a full labor cart.
Lis was 9.5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Time to get the party started.
15 minutes later the Dr. arrived and I helped her get Lisa in the stirrups, accidentally jamming the Dr.'s finger and getting a slap across the arm.
What is it with women hitting me?
After that it was just a matter of one set of pushes (three if I remember right). I saw the baby crown and started to look away, fearful of viewing any problem, but sucked it up and saw the face emerge, cord wrapped loosely around it's neck. The doctor told Lisa to grab the baby under each armpit and pull the baby out herself, and she reached down . .
Then the baby was out and given to r Lisa to hold and I still couldn't see the gender with the cord in the way . . .
"It's a girl!" the Dr. announced, and any fear of Lisa's that I would be dissapointed went out the window.
"Hi Baby Lauren," I said, feeling like I'd known her all along.
The Doc interrupted my thoughts long enough for me to cut the cord, and then she was in Lisa's arms and everything was right in the world.
The white stuff - I forget its name - was new to me, but the Doc wrote that off as being the first of our kids to be delivered prior to the due date (actually, YaYa was too, but was jaundiced and I did not see her in those first moments after birth).
Here's my mother-in-law with Lauren.
I was rather freaked by how quiet she was, but everyone assured me she was fine and dandy. It was more than 10 minutes after the birth, once the video camera was off, that she unleashed her very first loud and sustained cry.
She was not weighed/measured for a very long time, but as noted came in at 7#,7 oz and 20 inches long (7 lbs, 6.98 oz actually, if memory serves)
Her eyes were open almost from the start and she seemed very alert. She scored a 9 (out of a possible 10) on the APGAR score [the minus point was for the grayish tint to her hands and feet].
Ann, the nurse, did a great job of getting the footprints for our baby book.
Soon my mother in law left for a bit and most of the medical staff wandered off. We enjoyed a few blessed moments of alone time with our baby.
The blanket was made by my Mom, btw. My mother-in-law also knitted one, which was used later in the day.
We soon migrated up to the 5th (recovery) floor, where Lauren was bathed and given a security tag
True story: she despised the bath and stubbornly gripped the side of her plastic cradle. When flipped over to wash the other side, she gripped that side just as hard. The nurse was cracking up.
The room itself had a heck of a view overlooking the lake and water tower.
After dinner my mother in law and Lisa's step-dad came by to visit.
Then my Dad and sister Katie stopped by with my two nieces and all three of my kids.
My youngin's were decked out in shirts their Mom had made which read "I'm a big sister for the 3rd time", "I'm a big brother for the 1st time", and "I'm a big sister for the 2nd time".
UPDATE: I just learned Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's record by hitting #756 today . . so Lauren's birthdate will resonate in history even before she's President!
Despite YaYa's earlier disapointment in our decision to have another baby and profound exaustion after a long day, she was happy and eager to see the baby. Ditto (as expected) LuLu . Parker was fond of the girl but of course only expressed it with a smile.
They helped Lis open some presents from my family
The night before, following a tradition Lisa established, I had gone out and purchased gifts to the siblings from the new arrival. Nothing fancy this time, just coloring books, including a King Kong one for Park, crayons, blank paper, Cinderella trading cards, Princess journals, and activity books to practice schoolwork.
Sure it sounds like a lot, but all told it came up to around 10 bucks and my Mom paid for more than half of it as a gift to me.
While they were upset they didn't get the cafeteria cookies they'd long been promised (it was closed) the kids went home shortly after 8, a mere hour past their bedtime. I followed suit 90 minutes later, leaving my beautiful wife and daughter sleeping in their room.
A very VERY good day! :)
