Part III of my un4gettable experiences

Our next due date was June 28.  Ben and I jokingly talked about taking the third child "plunge".  We knew three was going to be a bit tricky.  Ben likes to say that you've gone from man to man coverage to zone coverage.  Never in a million years did we think that it was going to be quite so dramatic.  The entire pregnancy was characterized by waves of nausea.  By waves,  I mean enormous, gigantic tidal waves of horrible, just got off the Tower of Terror right after eating a Frito pie sort of nausea.  Then it would dissipate as though nothing had ever happened--*poof*, gone! In an instant the world would be back on it's proper axis.  From day one I should have known it was a girl.  I learned from my other deliveries that my pattern for  l&d was increasing time in labor, so I wisely decided to study up on the Bradley method of delivery.  They use a lot of visualization and relaxation techniques that I had Ben practice with me.  I'm glad we did.  Bethany decided that she was uber excited about entering the world and could no longer wait another minute--she was going to enter the world 6 days early.   One Friday afternoon around 4:00pm, I called Ben at work and said I was having contractions.  They were pretty light, so he should just finish up his work day, come home, and we would just see how the evening progressed.  At 8:00pm we called one of our neighbors/ church friends to come stay with the kids and Ben and I focused on when we should get to the hospital, knowing that it could still be a while.  At 10:00pm we started that direction.  At 10:30 I entered into the triage section of the hospital where they examined me, monitored me and then sent me home, saying that my cervix hadn't moved and I wasn't in labor.  On the way out the door and in tears,  I told Ben that this was crazy, because I knew I was in labor and that it was just taking me forever to progress the same way it always has.  We went home, though, and Ben laid down on the couch and fell asleep.  10 minutes later, I woke him up, saying he had to time my contractions.  Bless his sleepy soul. He sat there for 2 hours timing contractions, calling the nurse at the hospital, who said that I wasn't in labor in spite of the fact that they were 5 min. apart.  He then ran bathwater in our Jacuzzi tub where we sat in there for two hours timing contractions from 5 min. to three min. apart.  At 4 am we went back to the hospital where they stuck me back in triage, back on the monitor, checked me and said I had only progressed a little and they would check me again in an hour.  Apparently they were busy, or I was not a priority, because they kept sending in a very soothing, albeit slightly condescending nurse that had had 9 children. She basically said I was over reacting to Braxton-Hicks.  I still just want to line all of them up and just stick my tongue out at them because the following events tell me that they don't have a "listen to the woman in labor" class in nursing school.  At 7:00 am, during shift change, I looked at Ben and told him to get someone in there to check me or I was going to have this baby without my epidural and I didn't want to do that.  He then, went out in the hallway, in the middle of the nurses meeting, and the only nurse that listened to him was a nurse named Brandy--I'm sure she's an angel.  She ran in the room, did the exam, said I was at a 7 and asked when the last time someone checked me was.  Well that was 4am.  So, I had to get my huge belly, off of the triage bed, into a wheelchair, and onto a l&d bed.  After I was in the l&d bed, Brandy ordered the epidural.  When I saw the anesthesiologist, I felt a relief like I wasn't going to have to do all of this the hard way.  However, as soon as I laid on my side, my water broke and my baby's head crowned.  I told the doctor and nurse, the nurse checked me, and the anesthesiologist said "I'm sorry Mrs. Evans there's nothing I can do for you."  He backed up against the wall, probably fearing I was going to throw something.  Brandy turned the bed into a baby launcher and I told her in a coach-like voice that she had two or three pushes before she was going to have to catch a baby.  She was listening.  Every doctor that walked by in those few minutes was in my room while all the other nurses were looking for my doctor.  I pushed once, my doctor ran in put on his gloves, I pushed again, and the doctor turned around and caught her.  16 hours after the first contraction.  All natural, not quite like I had planned.  It was a beautiful and dramatic ending to a beautiful and dramatic beginning.  

                        This is 8lb. 3 oz Bethany on her 1st day in the world--June 23 2007.

 This was Bethany on her third birthday right before she sobbed during "Happy Birthday" because she didn't want to be three.  I have two words: Tidal. Wave.