Continuing with the former birth series, we have arrived to Preston's birth. I'm sorry to say it won't be as funny as Ruby's, which also means no poop, but I'm sure you'll find it wonderful or at least cleaner.
Well, it was a hot day in June and I had just taken Ruby swimming. We got home, I put her down for her nap and took a shower. During the shower, I noticed I lost my mucous plug. Even though I had given birth before (just shy of 2 years) I couldn't really tell if the "tightness" I was feeling was actually contractions or not. So, I call Rick at work and let him know I might be having contractions and I lost my plug. I told him no need to rush home, but we may be giving birth in the next day or so and that I'd keep him posted on my progress.
I kept track of my possible contractions well into the late afternoon and I even called a few friends to have them "remind" me of when I should venture to the hospital. Remember, with Ruby my water broke, so going to the hospital was a no brainer. I guess I didn't want to be one of those women who goes to the hospital only to be sent home.
Around 5:00 pm I start to think that maybe this really is it. I call Rick at work and tell him that I think I'm in labor but no need to drop what he's doing . . . just finish up and come home so we can go to the hospital to see for sure. He tells me okay and then asks if I can go pick up his dry cleaning. Yes, you read right! I laughed at him and asked if he was joking . . . he told me that he figured if I gave birth and he wasn't around for the next day or so that he may not have a chance to go get it before the weekend. That's when I reminded him that I was in labor and would not be driving to get his DAMN dry cleaning while having contractions and bringing along my 20 month old. I asked him to finish up and come home.
By 7:30 pm, he was still not home so I called him. He was still at work! He told me that he just needed to finish a few things and reminded me that I told him to finish before coming home. I decided to CLARIFY in my best "get your ass home right now" voice. Within 35 minutes he was home and we were on our way to the hospital. Besides J Street having several construction closures, we made decent time to the hospital. When we arrived I told the nurses in the Maternity Ward that I thought I was having contractions, about 15 minutes or so apart. They put me on a moniter and we found out that I was having contractions every 2 minuntes. (I'm so in tune with my body, eh?) They checked my cervix and reported that I was already 5 cm dialated.
They asked me if I wanted an epidural and using a scale of 1-10 (I assumed 10 was giving birth to Ruby without any drugs) how much pain was I in. I asked them which answer would get me an epidural. They let me know that any answer would suffice. I told them about a 2 and urged them to page the anestisiologist now (we all know what happened last time).
I can really summarize the rest . . . I received my epidural (rainbows, fairies and bubbles) and the labor was 100% different than Ruby's. They told me I should rest, get some sleep since I'd be pushing soon. I laughed thinking, sleep? really? This was soooooooo different than Ruby's delivery! A little while later they woke me up and we found out I was almost 10 cm and they said I'd be pushing soon. I started to feel that pressure you get in your butt and told them they need to "top off" my epidural because I knew what that pressure meant. (Pain, cussing and pushing coming up quick!)
At 2:54 am on June 18, 2003, about 2 weeks early, Preston Xavier was born. He weighed in at 7 pounds and 8 ounces.
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