We had been married for six years. People had actually stopped asking us when we were going to have kids. We had wanted to wait to start family, having been married so young. I can remember the day we decided to try to have kids. Jalon and I had gone to Macayo's for lunch. We were talking, and all of a sudden we started talking about babies. I asked Jalon, "Do you want to have a baby?" - he quickly answered, "Now? Yes!" And we stopped using birth control. In less than two months, (October 2, 2007) - we were taking a pregnancy test. I had worked a full 12 hour shift in the ICU that day, and my period was only two days late... but I was always really regular. I stopped by Walgreens on a whim and picked up a test. I came through the door at home with the test in the bag, "I think we need to take a pregnancy test..."
"Why? - I'm not ready! I'm not ready to know... I'm not ready!" Jalon lamented, and sat down . I laughed, and went to the toilet to pee on the stick. Having never taken a pregnancy test before, I wasn't sure how long it would take to get results. As I was still peeing on the stick it started to change to two lines. What did two lines mean? I thought I'd have time to read the directions while the test processed (or something)! So I started yelling to Jalon - "Get the directions, get the directions! What do two lines mean????" Jalon kept insisting I was joking! Until I showed him the stick!
And, of course, we were pregnant. We were pregnant! We we in an absolute state of shock! We just sat looking at each other. I remember that I kept noticing my hand over my mouth. (I didn't think people really did that when they were shocked, but it was like a reflex!) No one knew we were even trying to get pregnant, so it was going to be a big surprise! That night we called Nana (Jalon's Grandma). The next day was Papa's (my dad) birthday. What a wonderful present! We took my mom to breakfast and gave her my empty birth-control pill box. She thought it was our way of telling her that we were going to try for kids, when we then told her we were pregnant she FREAKED OUT! She sank into her seat and started crying! The waitresses were worried about her! While we were eating Jeremy and Rachel (Jalon's brother and SIL) came into the same restaurant! (Small town, huh?) So we told them too, Rachel's response - "Shut up! Shut up!" It was great - and everyone was so happy.
Pregnancy was great, I learned how to be a efficient puker - I could throw-up anywhere! The first time I puked was in Angela's (my friend and nurse-practitioner school comrade) front yard, I remember it like it was yesterday, ha. The worst place to throw-up? The hospital (work) toilet. The best place? Home in the kitchen sink - you can lean on the counter as opposed to bending over, you can run cool water for your face, and it's easy cleanup down the garbage dispose-all. I loved my ever-changing body and enjoyed growing life inside of me.
We decided to deliver at a hospital over an hour away, as we didn't have insurance and our small, local hospital was considerably more expensive. I was so scared that I would end up having Marshal on the road-side! Being a nurse, I wanted to be prepared. I found an article that had a three step process to delivering your own baby in an emergency situation.Great! Three steps! Step one - pull over your car and call 911. Step two - don't push until you can feel the baby's head with your hand and you have a very strong urge to push. Step three - hold the baby on your chest without cutting the cord until EMS arrives. Say what???? I'm sorry, shouldn't there be a few more steps between two and three?? And isn't step one kind of a given?? Needless to say, this "process" did NOT ease my fears! Luckily for all of us we didn't have to deliver en route.
It was the evening of June 4th, 2008 (my due date was June 9th). I had been having what I thought were contractions most of the day. I was walking and walking the neighborhood with my mom and Jalon. These "contractions" (sweet little things) were steadily occurring about every 8-10 minutes. We decided (in light of the drive and fear of the three-step process) that we would go ahead and travel the distance and have this baby! (I insisted on shaving my legs and painting my toenails before we left... that should have been an indication that maybe I wasn't in true labor????) My mom and SIL/best-friend were on the road with us.
We got to the hospital, and the triage OB nurse checked my cervix... a tight 2 cm. Really. Darn. That's not very much. Since we had already driven this whole way, they said they would admit me and see how I progressed through the night. We walked. And walked. And walked. I showered. I walked. I walked some more. ALL NIGHT I WALKED... and every time they checked my cervix, 2 cm. Really? Seriously? The next morning they decided to go ahead and induce me, again as opposed to sending me home. Pitocin, pitocin, and more pitocin. Those cute little contractions were now LONG GONE! And how much had I progressed? A loose 2 cm. You have to be kidding me! My OB came in and broke my water. The pain was beyond belief. Now, I had decided long before I went into labor that I was going to have an epidural as part of my birth plan. Why then, you ask, was I not getting my epidural yet? (My mom would say it was because I was stubborn...) But no! In my mind NO ONE got an epidural at 2cm! Come on! (In retrospect I agree this is not the BEST logic...) So I tried some stadol, which was the funniest thing ever - I have never been high, but that stuff wigged me out! I remember laughing uncontrollably when I dropped my kleenex and asking my family some very strange questions about flying on a rug. All this time, and STILL 2 cm.
I finally decided I would get my epidural, and my OB also thought this was a good idea as I was failing to progress. I got my epidural (by a nurse anesthetist that looked like GI Joe, my new hero). And life was good. Within the next hour I was about at 5cm. My mom and Jalon decided to run down to the car to get some items. Rachel was with me, and I was having her read some pushing strategies to me out of What to Expect When You're Expecting. (A quick refresher course, lol.) And as she's reading to me I start feeling this strange pressure, like I have to have a poop. (Sorry if that's too much information.) I looked at Rachel like, "that's weird, I really don't want to go poop." We put on my call-light and just then my OB came in. She checked me, and I was 10 cm! And she could feel the baby's head! "SHUT UP!" I said. She said, "I will not!" - funny the things you remember about the story. Within an hour and a half I had gone from 2cm to 10cm! Rachel grabbed the phone and rushed my mom and Jalon back up to the room from their parking lot errands.
I may not progress well, but I can push well! I pushed during my next 2 contractions, and then my OB said, "You're not having a contraction, but go ahead and just finish pushing him out." So I did! The most precious part of the experience was when they placed Marshal's amazing, squishy, brand-new body on my chest. His little arms were flailing and he was crying, and he was my dream come true.
Marshal Jay Peters
Born June 5, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
7 lbs 13 oz
21 inches
My favorite baby part? His upper lip. Like a little pink piece of bacon. Kissable little bacon lips.
