Birth Story

Caleb's birth story is much shorter and simpler than Evan's, much to my surprise and happiness.

Just like last time, we went in at 7:00 and registered and settled into the birthing room. We did not get the big room with the waiting area this time, but we had already told everyone not to come until we let them know, so it was just Tony and me. My nurses for the day were Christie and Kara.

At 8:05, Dr. H came in and gave me the cytotec to get things started. I was dilated to 2 cm still, so no change from the last appointment. The doctor said he'd be back around lunch to break my water. I had to stay in bed for an hour, and then I started walking the halls, with my IV pole in tow.

They fed me lunch, and at 12:45, Dr. H came in and told me that there were 3 other women who were really close to delivering. So, he was making me wait until they delivered before he would do anything else. I was disappointed to have to wait, but I wanted him to be available for delivery when my turn came.

At 3:10, the nurse came in to start Pitocin and said that he was delivering the third baby and would be right in. While she was hanging the IV bag, he came in and broke my water. It hurts WAY worse than I remember, but maybe I just blocked that out from the last time. He said that I was only dilated to 3 cm, but that the baby's head was really low. They told me to let them know when the pain got to a 4, and they would call for someone from anesthesia.

Contractions started getting pretty close and intense around 4:00, so I asked for the epidural around 4:15. They were there by 4:25. It was the same guy that did it last time, and he either remembered or had it in my chart that I knew Jim's wife who died. It also turned out that he is our neighbor Scott's first cousin. By 4:45, I was feeling pretty numb.

They checked me at 6:30, and I was dilated to 5. I felt like there might be something wrong with my epidural or my catheter because I could feel the catheter. So, they sent the anesthesia guy back to give me more anesthesia. In one way, I wish he hadn't because it made me completely numb but I still got a baby in the end, so I guess it was okay.

At 7:20, as I was preparing myself mentally for the long haul, the nurse came in to check me and said, "Are you ready to have this baby?" I started crying because I thought she was joking, but I was dilated to 10 cm and ready to push! In about 50 minutes, I went from 5 to 10! I couldn't believe it. They called for the doctor and I pushed for about 10-15 minutes (with absolutely no feeling this time) and had a squirming, screaming, somewhat bluish colored baby boy plopped up on my belly. Caleb Anthony was here! He weighed 7 lb 12 oz (exactly one pound heavier than Evan) and was 21.75 inches long (exactly one inch longer than Evan). He is perfect, at least as far as we can see on the outside, and will require no special procedures or treatments.