The day was a lazy one (except for the major cleaning I compulsively did earlier in the day, including standing on a chair to clean my ceiling fan...not such a smart idea at 9 months pregnant!) The kids spent the afternoon playing outside in the water and we were simply enjoying the day with my mom.
PJ first grilled the pineapple and set it down on the kitchen table. I walked past and sneaked a piece on my way outside. I laughed to myself as I remembered a friend telling me that eating pineapple would cause me to go into labor. PJ had just put the steak on the grill and it smelled amazing! I wanted to clean up the yard a little before dinner and bent down to pick up the sunscreen off the ground...and then it happened. My water broke! I laughed...that pineapple really works!!
I yelled over to tell PJ, who thought I had just sprayed my shorts as a joke...um...no...it was the real thing!
The next 15 minutes were surreal. I sat in the bathroom while PJ tried to find fresh clothes for me and gather our bags. Caedmon suddenly became completely engrossed in a train track...he wouldn't stop looking at it, playing with it, talking about it...coping through distraction! Abby, poor little Abby, sat with my mom. She is a nervous talker. I couldn't tell you anything she was saying in that moment because she was literally laughing and crying and talking hysterically all at the same time. Finally she burst into full tears and said, "What if he is born and he is mean to me like Caedmon is sometimes?" Oh my poor little dear. I hugged her and assured her that we would be with her to walk her through this! I'm so thankful for my mom's presence. It was a wise choice to have her stay with us before my due date! Thanks Mom! :)
We were ready to go to the hospital, with my water still gushing...but there was the matter of the steaks. Should we take them? They weren't finished cooking yet. Should we wait for them? Should we just go on and eat them later...but I had been looking forward to them all weekend. We debated for a few minutes and then decided to go on without them. A choice we regretted all. the. way. to. the. hospital. And so we stopped at Burger King before going in to be admitted.
By this point I was starting to feel my contractions and was eager to get admitted and into my room. Of course the nurse told me that I couldn't be admitted until it was confirmed that my water had actually broken (even though I sat on the waterproof pad, gushing as she spoke). :)
With my previous two births, I was induced. My water broke with Abby, but was only a trickle. With Caedmon, my amniotic fluid was really low, so the doctor sent me to the hospital to induce. So, I've never actually felt a contraction without the help of drugs. I was surprised to be hooked up to the monitors and discover that what I had been feeling the entire day before and thought was only Caleb moving around, was actually contractions. Cool! I also was thrilled to find out that I had actually dilated to 3cm...I've never made it past 1 cm on my own.
By the time I was admitted, it was close to 8pm and I was sure that I would have the baby by midnight. So I walked and walked and waited and waited. By 11pm, my contractions had stopped and I was still only at 3cm. Finally things picked back up around 2am. I was so sleepy and ready to be done. I asked for the happy epidural man around 2:30 so that I could get some sleep. When he came into the room, the only thing I could think of was the old doctor on "Despicable Me" and Gru saying "Why are you sooo ooold?" He was really old...but very friendly and good at his job. And I have to be honest, I love the no-pain that epidurals bring.
I was able to rest until about 5:30 when I felt some pressure and knew it was time to push! Caleb was born at 5:57am and the first thing he did was pee all over the place! He didn't even have his cord cut yet before he let us know that his plumbing worked just fine! :) I even got to hold him before his cord was cut, which was kind of neat. PJ cut the cord and the nurses began cleaning him up.
He wasn't crying but whimpering instead...it was a little scary. A mommy always wants to hear that cry...but the nurses suctioned out some mucus and he began to cry a little more "normally." It was at that point that one of the nurses said, "He has teeth." What? My newborn has teeth???
Sure enough, he had two large, purple bumps on his bottom gum that looked like teeth. They have since shrunk quite a bit, but we have an appointment with a pediatric dentist next week to find out if they really are teeth under the gums or just cysts. And then we will figure out how to proceed from there.
My little man snuggled with me until time to move to the Mother-Baby unit where I slept finally!
I feel so blessed! He is snuggled up with me now as I type. Caleb is a sweet, quite little guy. He has an adorable smile, but you have to work hard to get it. He's a tough audience, so far, just like his sister was!
Having three kids has its challenges, but many joys as well. I love watching Abby and Caed take care of their little brother. And I look forward to watching all three of them grow closer to one another!
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| And Baby makes Five! |
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