Monday, December 29, 2008

1 cm an hour

This day six years ago, I was hooked up to an antibiotic IV in a backless nightgown, all bright eyed and bushy tailed because I was about to give birth. I arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight with 1 little fact in the forefront of my mind. 1 CM an hour. Which meant...I would be birthing my first baby about 10 o'clock the following morning.

It also meant...I'm an idiot. A complete and total idiot! I know you think it's harsh. But, when I look back on that day, I was pretty sure the nurse who told me that I needed to sleep because it was going to take awhile was wrong because I had that fact in my head. 1 cm an hour. That little fact made me so much smarter than the nurse, at least that's what I thought.

Even if my body had adhered to that random average number, I WASN'T EVEN IN LABOR! See, that's how dumb I was! My water had broken, but labor had not started. Labor hurts, and I wasn't in pain. I thought I was lucky! But, I wasn't lucky, I just wasn't in labor. Broken water <> Labor. That was a fact I didn't have memorized about giving birth.

I was given pitocin around 7 am to get the labor going. Still, it took me a few months to realize that I was induced. It took me a while to realize that Broken Water <> Labor.

Around 10 AM, when I thought I would be welcoming my new baby, I may have asked for something so I could get some sleep. I was also saying good-bye to that know-it-all nurse. She was going home, but she'd be back, she said. She'd see me then, she said. Yeah, right! I thought. I'd be on the other side by 5:00 for sure. I wouldn't be seeing her. No way.

Yes way.

That baby didn't arrive until 10:30 PM. And, that nurse was back. And, she was just wonderful. Her name was Therese. I'd like to send her a message to tell her she was just wonderful.



You know what else hurts? Milk coming in. I didn't know that either, and I nearly killed little Trevor by not feeding him for 2 days. It all worked out OK in the end, though. He's fine now. No stained brain from the jaundice that was complicated by the dehydration. Which I also didn't recognize because I'm such a dummy.

Happy Birthday Trevor from your mom who used to be pretty dumb. You've taught me a lot.


12/29/03


12/29/04


12/29/05


12/30/06


12/29/07

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He is truly a beautiful child.
Love, Mom