Eight years ago tonight...

Eight years ago tonight I was in denial that I was in labor. Through my sleep-deprived, constant vomiting fog, I didn't think I would go early (doesn't that paint a pretty picture?). My mom was sooooo late with all three of us kids that I never thought I'd be in labor before my due date (April 30).

When Travis was timing the contractions (unknown to me) and they were 5 minutes apart, he insisted we call the hospital.

That was at about 11:30 p.m. or so on April 27.

By the time we got to Innovis it was a bit after midnight.

I was thrilled that my doctor was on call that weekend.

And yes, I was in labor. Even though I didn't quite believe it.

By 2 a.m. on April 28 I was at 5 cm and my blood pressure was horrible. So horrible the nurse wouldn't tell me what it was. That made me even grumpier. But the whole labor thing was still very easy.

My doctor broke my water and declared that she felt the baby's hair! Wow! This was becoming more real!!!

My dr. wanted to do an epidural to see if that would help with my blood pressure. It was either that or a c-section, so I nearly did a cartwheel to get the anesthesiologist in in order to try to avoid surgery.

It worked (no, not the cartwheel - wouldn't have been a pretty sight) - the epidural.

So I rested for a bit and so did Trav. While I rested, my leg kept falling off of my bed. Only I couldn't feel my leg. I must have been sitting in bed very strangely for my leg to keep falling off. Then I'd see it dangling off of the bed. Annoyed, I couldn't heave it back up. So, I would call for Trav to help. Now I can laugh about the whole scene, but this whole leg-falling-off-the-bed-and-Travis-helping-out routine happened several times.

At about 4:30 my nurse came to check me and she was amazed when she told me I was ready to push. I wasn't really sure about that. Was I really ready to push? Was I really ready to become a Mom? Didn't seem like I had an option. On the other side of my brain, I was very excited to find out if we were having a Carson Noah or a Liesl Grace and what he or she would look like. And I couldn't wait to be a Mom.

When my doctor arrived a few minutes later, she grew wide-eyed. She explained that somewhere in the midst of my relaxation for those couple of epidural-filled hours, the baby had flipped and was now breech and butt first. Based on how far down the baby was in my birth canal, she felt that a vaginal delivery was the best option. But she wanted me in the OR, with my new friend the anesthesiologist.

The nurse was working on putting the bed back together again, since it had been broken down for labor. I asked if the OR was far and she explained just a few doors down. Since it was 4:30 in the morning, and being the practical person that I try to be, I told her to throw some blankets over me and let's go. :)

As they started to push the bed out of the room, they couldn't quite get it through the door. The nurse tried, then she backed up and, at what I like to refer to as 'ramming speed' she tried again. I muttered something about something must be caught...

Any guesses? Yeah, my leg had fallen off of the side of the bed again. It was caught in between the bed and the door frame. Nice.

With a quick adjustment, we were off to the OR and it was just 20 feet away. Trav got scrubs on and soon he was by my side.

Then I could feel it. I was going to puke. Again. I hadn't been told about puking during transition or even labor - how it is fairly common. Would have been good info to know. My dr. got the giggles and exclaimed that since I had thrown up for 9 months with this baby, I might as well puke this baby out. In all I think I only pushed twice. The rest of the force came from my heaving. Another pretty picture. But, this story is for Carson to read about in a few years. :) And within just a few short minutes, Carson Noah Kitch entered the world at 5:02 a.m.

Due to his unusual butt-first entry into this world, he needed a lot of suctioning before we heard that first cry. We were all crying, including my doctor. They were tears of joy. The OR was packed - there were so many people in there. Not just for Carson and myself, but we later learned that many nurses came to see a breech birth since they are so incredibly rare.

Once Carson got cleaned up he was off to the NICU for just a bit to be watched. Travis stayed with Carson and would jaunt back and forth between our rooms. I was back in my room fairly quickly. Once my epidural wore off in just a few hours I was sitting cross-legged on the bed. I felt wonderful. I had no soreness, which was a wonderful surprise. Well, I take that back. My leg was throbbing and the only reason I took some Tylenol and an ice pack was because of how sore my leg was and my knee needed icing. Within just a few hours Carson was able to join us and he stayed with us until we went home.

Eight weeks later when Carson was recovering from his first major surgery in the Twin Cities I still had a black and blue mark on my leg. :) I was so very fortunate. I had the easiest labor and delivery (and short - five hours from the time we got to the hospital until we met Carson). And yes, I didn't know if I was ready to be a Mom, but Carson was ready to be our son. And only God knew of the ride we were about to begin eight years ago.

So, eight years ago tonight I was very much in denial that I was in labor.

Now I sit here and am very much in denial that we will wake up to an eight-year-old tomorrow morning. Anyone have a pause button?

We love you to the moon and back, Carson Noah.