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.