Arrival of Derek Jude Part 2

***If you haven't read Part 1, you may want to scroll down and do that first***

Okay, so here's the rest of the story (only 5 weeks later, I've been a little busy).

I really wanted Scott to get to teach the whole school day. They called off school the Thursday and Friday before because it was SO cold. Then we were in the hospital Monday, so Tuesday was his first day there in a while. I asked the doctor if he thought this was okay. He said if my contractions got to 3 minutes apart I shouldn't wait any longer.

So I called Scott to give him the heads up. I told him I would try to wait until 3:05, but I couldn't make any promises. Julie drove me back to Rochelle (about 15 minutes) and the contractions immediately came faster. I knew the Scott had a prep period shortly after one. I called him then and told him I was going to the hospital, and asked if he could come or if Julie should take me. He said he'd be home in 10 minutes. This was another example of God taking care of us. The person who was going to sub for him the rest of the week was in his room when I called. He went over plans with her. Then on his way out of the building he ran into the person who had volunteered to do PA at a basket ball game if he needed. So he made arrangements with her and then came to get me.

I was waiting (impatiently) and off we went back to DeKalb. We got checked in (a little disappointed because we were in a different room. The first one was given in honor of two brothers, Scott and Ryan, and had tulips on the wall...oh well). We got moved in and I asked for an epidural immediately. It took a while to get it, but I did and it was SUCH a relief. After having contractions for 4 days at this point, it was so nice to not have that pain any longer.

So we waited and watching the inaugural parade and things kept progressing. The nurses commented on the dark hair they could see on the baby's head. The doctor broke my water and about midnight they said it was time to push.

So we pushed for about 2 hours and I couldn't get him passed my tail bone. So finally the doctor decided we needed to be done and used the forceps to help him come out. I had a third degree tear. That part wasn't so fun, but went quickly. Derek was 7 pounds 1 once with dark blue eyes and lots of dark hair. I think he was 19 inches, but I'm not positive on that.

We had several visitors in the hospital, which was wonderful. Paul did a great job at big brother from the beginning (of course he got lots of presents, so that helped a lot). I stayed until Friday morning. I went home a little sore, but in better shape than with my c-section, so I was thankful for that. We had lots of help and lots of meals provided.

The whole experience was so different this time because I was so much easier on myself. I didn't feel like I had to prove that I can do this. I was already a mom, and I didn't see each day as a test of my worth as a mom. This let me accept help much more easily. And it let me be easier on Derek, with less expectation of him to be perfect immediately. He is a very content baby, and a great eater so that helps too. But physically and emotionally number two has been easier (so far).

The Arrival of Derek Jude Part 1

So here's the whole story (almost 4 weeks later) of Derek's arrival.

I started having contractions on Saturday morning. These were a few an hour, and strong enough to make me take a few deep breaths. We ran errands that day and kept track of them, but they didn't grow any more consistant. Then I woke up at 3:00am Sunday with a much stronger contraction. They immediately started coming every 10 minutes. So at 5:00am I called the doctor and he said we should head to the hospital.

We got on the road and about 3 miles out of town the "low tire pressure light" came on. Then we started to hear that "flat tire" thump. Yes, our new mini van, on the way to the hospital, in the middle of the country, has a flat tire. Who gets flat tires anymore??? So we pull over at the next small town. I call Julie and ask her to come since we didn't know how long it would take. She got Paul up and put him in the car. We didn't even know where the spare tire was and it took about 10 minutes to find it. (It was under the car.) So I waited inside Casey's while Scott changed the tire in the 5 degree weather. He got it changed just as Julie arrived. We sent them back home and Paul kept saying, "This is a wierd day. I'm still in my jammies!"

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:30. They admited me for "observation." We spent a VERY long day there with the contractions not doing anything. They got about 3 minutes apart, but I still wasn't dialating. So they gave me some drugs so I could sleep. The Doctor (not my doc, just the on-call doc) said we'd re-evaluate in the morning. I thought that meant we'd consider a c-section or something else to encourage labor. Instead, when we found that I still wasn't dilated, he sent us home. I was devastated that I was going home without a baby. And very confused, because I didn't know when I should come back. I was still having contractions, just not consistently. That was a rough day. It also happened to be Columbus Day, so my doctor's office wasn't open and I couldn't talk to him.

I had contractions all day and night Monday. Tuesday morning I called to schedule a time to see my doctor. This was inauguration day. He checked me, told me I was dilated 4 cm and then invited me into his office to watch Obama take the oath of office over the Internet. Then the doctor said this was real and I could head over to the hospital immediately or wait until the contractions were more consistent.

Derek is crying. More later.