Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago, at this very moment (approximate 7:30 pm) I was lying on my bed watching American Idol (surprise!) and timing contractions, breathing through each one as they got closer and closer. I was not expecting this to be happening that day. You see, I was scheduled for an induction the next day so my sister could be with me as I gave birth to my second child. She'd never seen a baby be born and Bob and I had already done the "couple only" thing with our first baby. Plus, I just really wanted her there.

My day started out as any other day, I had finished packing for my scheduled induction, I played with Seth, ate some lunch, and did some cleaning. Nothing spectacular. Somewhere around 2:00 pm, I recall feeling a lot of pelvic pressure and a few contractions, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, around 4:30 pm, the contractions started getting more intense. By about 6:00 pm, they were starting to come more regularly and Bob was home. I'd been asking him to take Seth to get a haircut for days and I insisted that he take him despite the fact that I was in early labor. Bob left with Seth and I laid down to relax. I called my sister, who was already on her way to our house so she could be at the scheduled delivery the next day. I told her that I was in labor and she should hurry. She was still at least a three hour drive from our home.

Bob came home around 7:30 pm with dinner and Seth did not have a haircut. Bob said the wait was too long. He asked how I was doing and I told him the contractions were about 15 minutes apart. When they were finished with dinner, we packed up the car and headed to the hospital. It was now 8:30 pm. I think that was the longest ride of my life as the contractions intensed. Bob called his dad to let him know we were going to the hospital and he said he would meet us there to pick up Seth. I asked Bob to call my sister to see where she was and to have her meet us at the hospital. She was still at least an hour away and driving as fast as she could, probably breaking the speed limit.

When we arrived at the hospital, a little before 9:00 pm, I was ready for my epidural as the contractions were now painful. Bob walked to the check-in desk and said, "My wife is in labor." The nurse said, "Is it your first?" Bob, holding Seth, said, "Uh, no." The nurse asked where I was and Bob pointed to me as I was leaning against a chair breathing through another contraction. The nurse said, "Oh my!" and came over with a wheelchair. As she pushed me to a birthing suite, I said, "I want an epidural." She said okay and the proceeded to she ask a million questions: When did my contractions start? Did my water break? How long was my first labor?

Once in the birthing suite, a couple of nurses helped me get changed into a gown because I couldn't do it myself through the contractions. Finally, they were able to check me. The nurse said, "Oh, well, it's kind of hard to tell. I would say, 8 - 8.5 cm with a bulging bag." I said, "WHAT?!" There was NO WAY I was 8 cm. My first labor was 15 hours and I was only four hours into this one. Then another nurse came in and said, "I've got some bad news." I thought she was going to say the baby had turned and I was going to need a c-section but instead she said, "The anaesthesiologist is in a c-section and you'll deliver long before he's done." I was mad. Mad I didn't listen to Bob when he suggested we come to the hospital instead of taking Seth to get a haircut. Around this time, Bob's dad showed up to get Seth and Bob called Kim who was still about 15 minutes away.

However, it wasn't but a few minutes later that I said to the nurse, "I need to push." She said, "You need to wait, the doctor isn't ready yet." Yeah, like that was going to happen. I said, "No, I need to push!" The doctor ran in and threw on a gown and gloves and told me to push when I needed to. Two nurses got on either side of me, sort of pushing Bob out of the way. I pushed a couple of times, screaming through the pain, then my doctor said, "Katie, listen to me. Now this next push is really going to hurt..." (Are you kidding me?!) "...but if you just push through the pain, you'll be done." Okay, I can do this. I pushed. I pushed as hard as I could. It was agony. Torture. I thought, literally, this is what I thought, "I'm going to rip in half. I'm really going to rip right in half." And then the doctor said, "The head is out. Don't push!" I yelled back, "I gotta get it out! I gotta get it out!" and kept right on pushing. Then she said, "It's a girl!" I looked down and all I saw was...well...girl parts. I was sure she was a boy. Then I said, "Can he [Bob] cut the cord?" (because he didn't get to with Seth). They placed my daughter on my chest and as soon as I smelled her, that was it, I knew she was mine. I loved her. I would do anything for her. I'll never forget that moment.

A nurse took her to clean her up and a few minutes later my sister walked in the room. I said, "I'm sorry. She wouldn't wait." She'd missed the birth by about 10 minutes. Kim said, "Now I'll never get to see a baby be born." But she was the first person to hold Garrett (after myself and Bob). And she also picked out Garrett's middle name, Reese.

So that, in a nutshell, is the story of Garrett's birth. Born March 7, 2005 at 9:13 pm, 6 lbs 3 oz and 18.5 inches. Four years ago today.

Happy Birthday my sweet angel girl. I love you so much.

To see a slideshow of Garrett's first year, click here.