...Robert Paul Baker... born 6/12/07 at 4:28pm
...8lbs 8oz - 20 1/4" long
...8lbs 8oz - 20 1/4" long
Last Tuesday I woke up around 4am with some "cramping". Nothing more and since I had experienced this two weeks earlier I managed to to not get overly excited about this. Around 5am I began keeping track of them and found that they were coming on every 10-15 minutes.
At 6am, when it was time for Bill to get up for work I told him what I had been experiencing for the past 2 hours but also noted that it had been over 20 minutes since the last one had hit. He got up and showered and when he was done I still had not had any further "cramping". My initial thought was, "here we go again...false labor!" So off to work he went and back to sleep for me.
At 8am I was woken up by a nice little contraction and the sound of the kids running around downstairs. So I got up and decided to start the day. And this time the contractions, although still only slightly more painful than cramping, were coming at an even 10 minutes. Bill had already decided that he would work for a while at the office and would be home before noon unless I notified him otherwise so I gave him a call to give him the latest update. He decided to finish up what he was doing and head back home.
When Bill arrived sometime after 10am the contractions had dwindled once again. So off we all went for a few laps around the block with the hopes that it might trigger labor to begin again. Unfortunately it seemed that our attempts were futile at this point.
Around 1pm we put the kids down for naps and I snoozed off and on downstairs in the living room while whining the entire time about how this child was never going to come out and that I had no idea what I could do to alter things. And then somewhere in the midst of my complaining they began again. This time they were worth noting and so we began to keep track of them...12 minutes...10 minutes and so on.
Finally, around 2:45pm we decided to get the kids up and drop them off at our friends' in Hamden where we would also wait things out. This would put us 10 minutes from the hospital as opposed to the 30 minutes from our home.
By 3pm we were packing up the car when I noted to Bill that they were suddenly becoming much stronger and were now coming every 5 minutes. So we placed the call to the Doctor's office and we were told to come in to their office for a quick exam.
We were less than 2 miles down the road when the contractions were coming every 3 minutes and the rush began. We made alternate plans for Bill's Mom to meet us at the doctor's office and take the kids to our friends'.
When we arrived at the doctor's office and informed them the contractions were coming every 3 minutes, I was rushed in for the fastest exam ever. I was told that I was 8 centimeters dilated and fully efaced and if I left the office that minute we would still be able to make it to the hospital and that they would be calling in my arrival ahead of time.
We must have hit every red light and school bus on the way to the hospital. We arrived at 4pm, wheelchair waiting for me at the curb and off we went. But even the elevators would not cooperate...so off we went to faster elevators. (Why we didn't head that direction in the first place is beyond me.)
From that point I had just enough time to change into a hospital gown and for them to break my water before we began pushing. And I thank God it went fast because honestly, no matter how many kids you have, no matter what size they end up being...they all hurt like hell coming out with no pain relief! But the end result is so worth every last minute of pain. Just look at the beautiful family we've created!
