And then there were 3

On July 21st, 2008 James, my dad and I all went to the movie theater to see The Dark Night. During the movie I was feeling contractions about every 20 minutes or so( I was only 36 weeks along). I couldn't even really pay attention to the movie because I started getting really worried. My doctor told me I was 2 cm dilated and he thought I wouldn't last more than another week or two at my last appointment and that was 5 days prior. I started thinking my water might break in public or something and that really freaked me out. I made it through the movie and we made it home without anything too eventful happening. Later that night I timed my contractions and they were about 9 minutes apart, but not completely consistent. I thought maybe I was just having braxton hicks contractions. The next morning I went to the doctor to have him check me out. I was 3 or 4 cm dilated. Doc told me to go to the hospital if my contractions got to be 4 or 5 minutes apart. He wrote me a letter to start me on maternity leave. I went into work after my appointment to tie up some loose ends since I wasn't planning on going back to work for 12 weeks. I was timing my contractions as they were coming, and they were about 7 minutes apart. I turned in my maternity leave papers and went home. James was home that day because he was off of work. I remember Molly (the dog) was acting really strange around me. She kept following me around and whining a lot. I think she knew something was going on. James was planning on going to play tennis that day. He thought maybe he shouldn't go since I was having contractions and all, but I told him to go. I told him I was fine and that I was just going to relax. So he went and I just relaxed and watched some T.V. I kept timing my contractions. They got to 4 or 5 minutes apart about 20 minutes after James left. I started thinking maybe I should call him and we should head to the hospital. So, I called him and he came right home. I put the packed bags in the car and we headed to the hospital. I was sure that once we got there they would send me home. I was admitted at 3:00 pm. I got my blood drawn to have some lab work done and an IV for fluids. The nurse started putting on all my monitors. She couldn't figure them out, so James's mom (who is a nurse) hooked them up. Not exactly calming when you think you might be having a baby and your nurse has an instruction manual out trying to figure out the monitors! So I was all hooked up, the nurse checked to see how dilated I was. I was 4-5 cm. She called my doctor to let him know that I was there. The nurse said that he wasn't going to break my water so it might be a while before anything happened. A half hour later at 4:00 Dr Baky came into my room and said I could either wait for hard labor to start on its own and be uncomfortable for the next day or two, or he could break my water and get things going now. Well, we were at the hospital and I was ready to meet my baby so I said "now." So he broke my water at 4:07pm and he said he would see me in a couple of hours. My dad left when the doc did to go get something to eat and I called my mom and told her we would be having the baby! She was a little worried that she wouldn't make it on time, but I reassured her that it would be hours before the little guy would make his entrance. Right after I got off the phone with my mom I started having really intense contractions. They kept coming one right after another it seemed. The nurse was having me sign all my consent and whatever other bull crap forms right in between contractions. I didn't even read anything I just scribbled real quick to get it over with. In the midst of all that I started begging for my epidural. I wanted the pain gone and I wanted it gone right then. Well, the nurse informed me that they couldn't give me my epi until my lab results came back. James's mom kept reassuring me that I would get my drugs soon, she was trying to keep me calm =) All of a sudden I felt this really immense pressure and I said "I have to push!" The nurse told me to absolutely not push! More nurses came into my room. My nurse checked me and conformed that I was 10 cm and ready to push. They paged Dr. Baky. The nurses put me on my side to try and make me not push. That did not work. The baby wanted out right then, so they let me push. This part is kind of a blur. I was in so much pain and my contractions were right on top of each other. With every contraction I pushed. At one point one of the nursed tied bed sheets together and gave me one end while she went to the other end of the room and she told me to pull. I was literally playing tug of war while delivering my baby. I got his head out and James's mom Beth yelled "the cord is around his neck!" They told me to give one good push with the next contraction. So I pushed one final time and they yanked him away. I pushed for a total of 20 minutes. From James's point of view things were very scary. I was out of my mind in pain so I didn't understand what was going on. James says that when the baby's head came out it was pail and when his body came out it was lifeless. It was one of the scariest moments of his life. I remember asking over and over why my baby wasn't crying. A ton of people were working on him in a small area and I had no idea what was going on. He finally let out a little cry and I heard them say he was pink. That was a big relief. I thought then that he would be okay. They rushed him into another room and I laid in my bed still in pain, and still had not seen my baby. I wanted to hold him so bad but I couldn't. Dr. Baky showed up about a half hour after I delivered. He finished everything up and he told me that the baby was going to need to go to Akron Children's Hospital or St. Elizabeth's hospital to more treatment. The baby had suffered a collapsed lung and needed special care for a couple days. He gave me some pain medication and he told me he would be back in the early morning to release me so that I could go to the hospital that the baby would be transferred to. Everyone and their brother started showing up at that point. My mom came in the room, she missed everything. Kayla, Missy, Holly, Lauren, Jeff, Maria, Isabella, Dad, Mom, Stephen, Grandma, Dan, another Kayla, and Amie were all there. I love them all, but it was really overwhelming to have everyone there given the circumstances. James and everyone else kept taking turns going from my room to go look through the glass to see the baby. I was really upset inside that everyone got to see my baby except for me. James brought me a picture of him. He was absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe how much he looked like James. About 2 hours after giving birth to Thomas they brought him to me in an incubator. I felt so helpless. I wanted to hold him so bad. All I could do was put my finger in the incubator, and he grabbed on to it. I put on a smile because there were so many people around me, but I really just wanted to cry. I wanted everyone to leave. It was a really hard moment for me. They took the baby to St. Elizabeth's right away. After they took the baby everyone left and I took a shower. I moved to a Post Partum room and just relaxed. Adam, Sean and Erin (James's friends) came later on to wish congratulations. It was nice to see them after all the chaos earlier. James went to bed soon after that and I roamed the halls. I could hear babies crying in the nursery and I felt really robbed. I knew that I probably wouldn't have a picture perfect delivery, but everything went so wrong. I had that baby inside me for 8 months and he was gone, all alone at another hospital and it was killing me. The next morning Dr. Baky came in and released me just as he had said he would. We got everything together and went to see our baby Thomas. Holding him for the first time was amazing. Everything was right in the universe at that moment. He was in the NICU for one week and he has been perfectly healthy ever since. I really learned a lot from the whole experience. For one, with the next baby I'm getting the drugs before the doc breaks my water! I'm glad that I got to feel what it was like once without the drugs though. I know the pain and I have a whole new respect for my body and what I am capable of. Thomas is the best thing that ever happened to James and I. We both love him with ever ounce of our being and we both feel so blessed that he is a perfect, healthy little boy!

Thomas James- July 22nd, 2008

5lbs 6oz 17 1/2in.

This was the first picture that I looked at to finally see my son's face.
At the NICU.

too precious!