(Brad's Gramma wrote:)
WE WANT THE DETAILS after you get home.
WELL --
It was rough going, but we made it.
We got almost to the finish line, and then just stalled... for like 2 hours, 3 hours??? A long time.
No progress. I can't tell you how disappointed my wife was. :-p
The doctor came in and said, "If there's no progress in the next 30 minutes, we're looking at a C-section."
30 minutes later, the nurse checked my wife.
Still no progress. None. Still stalled, almost at the finish line.
Meanwhile, my wife was majorly losing it. The pain medication had worn off completely 2 hours earlier, she couldn't have any more, and she was beyond the limit. She was at the point of begging for a C-section, just for the pain relief.
At the same time, her behavior (and desperation) seemed a bit familiar. It was similar to how she would behave at transition, which would have meant delivery was imminent -- yet there was obviously no progress. I put the thought mostly out of my mind.
About another 10 or 15 minutes and the doctor finally poked his head in the door. Everyone had agreed to the C-section (we really didn't want a c-section, but you do what you have to do). We were packed, prepped and ready to go. The consent form was signed.
The doctor said, "Sorry, but we're going to have to wait a little bit -- we have 2 emergencies in there now, and our anesthesiologists are all busy."
That was the very LAST news my wife wanted to hear (especially since she realized it was going to take another half hour just for an epidural to kick in).
While we were all still discussing this (and my wife was reeling in shock at the horrible thought of enduring the unendurable for another hour), the nurse checked her again -- and reported it seemed like there might actually be a little bit of progress.
She turned and walked toward the sink.
About 10 seconds later, another nurse suddenly let out a yell!
I was standing closest and automatically reached out and put my hand lightly on the baby's head to keep him from popping out too quickly. In retrospect, I think both the doctor and the nurses were all just caught completely by surprise, because it was probably another 10 seconds before any of them even moved!
Then the doctor took over (nice, since that's what he gets paid for -- it was also nice of him to pop in for the birth, LOL), and in another half a minute or so, we had an official delivery.
Our son weighs 8 1/2 pounds, and is lovely. Looks a lot like his 3 sisters and his brother! Lots of dark hair. Hair & eye color vary in our family, but look at the faces & you can tell they're all brothers & sisters.
Well, that was at 845 pm on Father's Day. It's after 2 am now, and I've finally just gotten home. Everybody is doing great.
Anyway, many thanks for your prayers. They were definitely needed -- and answered.
See you manana. Gotta get some sleep!