We went to bed on Sunday morning on top of the world. We had everything planned out for Adam’s birth in 10 days then…
Adam’s big day arrived sooner than we expected.
As Sarah filled up with a midnight snack Saturday night, she felt a small contraction pain. It only lasted a moment and didn’t repeat itself, so we continued talking about what we still had to do before Adam arrived on the 21st for his scheduled induction. We made great progress that day filling in the few remaining holes from donations from our Sunday School class, family, and other friends. Sarah finished the basinet for Adam upstairs and I had set up the playpen downstairs. Although incomplete, our preparations satisfied us—especially when compared to Julie. We went to bed about 1 AM looking forward to Sunday and all the things we planned to do.
Sarah woke me at 4:14 AM. Her water had burst like a tidal wave. After a moment of fear, confusion, and denial we got to work. We cleaned up, packed our bags, packed Julie’s bags, and loaded up the car arriving at the hospital a little after 5:30 am. Sarah walked into the hospital pulling her suitcase while I stayed outside with Julie until her babysitter arrived. By the time I got into the delivery room, Sarah lay in bed with all the monitors attached. The nurse remarked that she had never seen a woman in Sarah’s condition pulling her own luggage.
Now begins hospital time and hospital rules. First they needed confirmation that Sarah’s water broke. By the time we arrived at the hospital, Sarah stopped leaking, probably because Adam’s head had sealed the hole. Sometime around 8 AM, they received confirmation and began the next step. Sarah didn’t have regular contractions yet, so they hooked up a bag of juice to her IV to speed things along. Around about 10 AM, she had her first strong contraction and agreed to have the epidural procedure.
The nurse practitioner who administered the epidural almost talked Sarah out of it with all the “what-ifs.” But, I reminded her how much she really wanted it, so she finally agreed. The procedure went well and Sarah spent the rest of the “labor” chatting and laughing (including 45 minutes on one phone call). She had so much fun, it’s strange to call it labor.
Somewhere around 3 PM, Sarah got a strange look on her face and said the baby moved. The nurse confirmed that Sarah was fully dilated and ready for delivery. By the time the doctor arrived, the room was filled with equipment, carts of supplies and other staff. The doctor was bubbly and confident (he completed two other deliveries that day) saying that this should only take five minutes. Then we waited for the next contraction.
After an uncomfortably long delay, the next contraction came and Sarah pushed. On the second push, Adam’s head came out and the doctor cleaned out his nose and mouth. A small final push cleared Adam’s shoulders. Adam came into the world two weeks early at 3:26 pm, 7 lbs, 12 oz and 21 inches long.
The sounds of his cries caught both Sarah and I off guard. Julie’s birth came with silence while we anxiously waited for her to be connected to the ventilator. But Adam vocalized for all to hear bringing a tear to Sarah’s and my eyes.
The next hour blurs in my mind. The doctor worked on Sarah repairing the damage from birth and removing some polyps which caused recurring bleeding during the entire pregnancy. Sarah’s doctor waited to remove them until after birth, thinking that removal during pregnancy might cause problems. The nursery lady cleaned and measured Adam, and Sarah held him while the doctor completed his work. Next Sarah fed Adam.
Afterwards, I got a few pictures. Then, the nursery took him away for a proper bath and Sarah was moved to her room. Labor lasted 11 and a half hours, but Sarah felt practically no pain except for the sting from the IV needle.
I left around 8 pm, while one of our friends, Sue Sanderson, stayed with Sarah until nearly midnight. Sue got there about 10 AM. Campbells babysat Julie while Sarah and I shopped Saturday night. Poulains boarded Julie and I from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. “Aunt Kathy” baby sat Tuesday. We crashed at the Poulains after leaving the hospital Tuesday afternoon before heading home. And, today Molly Price came by for several hours to help with laundry, organizing and cleaning chores. We have wonderful friends!
I caught a bit of a cold during the whole process, but I feel better in my own home. Sarah breastfeeds Adam while gradually recovering.
Andy, Sarah, Julie and Adam!
After commenting how easy Adam arrived, the doctor mentioned a mother next door who had been in labor for almost two days. She had opted for natural childbirth and finally relented in just the last hour for medicine to speed things along and kill the pain. We can never confirm it, but we couldn’t help wondering whether the slender, tan, blonde in our childbirth classes who bragged about natural childbirth now enjoyed the advances of modern medicine in the room next door.
I can now admit an open secret. For over fifty-two years, I had never missed a Sunday worshipping with fellow believers. Mostly this meant a traditional worship service in a church. However, I have started churches so I have met in schools, skating rinks, feed stores, camps, or in a boat on a lake. My parents hoped that at least one of their children would attend church on his first Sunday after birth. I was the only one of my siblings born early enough in the week to be released from the hospital before Sunday. I honored their desire after leaving home for college and throughout my adult life. Since Adam arrived on a Sunday, I felt comfortable to remain at the hospital rather than sneak out for a hour at our church. I have missed a few more since that day, but without regret or compulsion.
I sent out this update after we came home when I had a chance to relax in my own place. I had begun coasting a little at work knowing that Adam would soon arrive and I would have some time off. I hoped that his arrival and some distance would improve my attitude towards work and give me boss an excuse to ease up on me.
I also hoped to have a little study time to complete my Greek studies. So far this week, I had sprinted since Sarah’s water broke with momentary downtime to relax before the next big push. Since Adam came early, I missed some of the time I hoped to have for study. I still had high hopes of a quiet week before classes began, but…