Just another Wednesday...right...

Once we got home from the hospital I knew everyone would want to see pictures so I put up pictures and never came back to post what actually happened the day Wylie was born. So, here's the full story.

I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, February 17th. After the appointment Will and I went to eat at Jason's Deli and I then went to a meeting for Babies Can't Wait which is my new source of a small income since I'm not returning to teach next school year. I felt a little cramping in my lower stomach and was uncomfortable throughout the entire meeting. I have heard that late in pregnancy when you are examined that cramps are common so I really didn't worry too much about it. Also during the meeting my feet were very hot and itchy, other than the normal swelling I had been experiencing the past few weeks. I ended up untying and loosening my shoes discretely under the table. (Thank goodness for New Balance 992 shoes that I wore the last 2 months almost everyday!) I think I rode home with the window down from the meeting and it was a pretty darn cold night. I went to bed pretty quickly after I got home, still not giving a second thought to the cramping or exhaustion.

Wednesday morning I didn't feel great, but at this point that was pretty normal. Will packed my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I got ready and went to work. I wore flip flops even though it was pouring down rain because my feet were still hot. I still had the dull cramping, but whatever. As the morning went on I started to not be able to stand up straight. I told my parapro and friend, Crystal, what I was feeling. She recommend that I call my doctor's office and see what they said. I really didn't think it was a big deal, but I took her advice and called. The nurse left me on hold for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile I was video taping one of my students doing work with the intentions of sharing her accomplishments with her mother at a meeting that Friday. The nurse came back on the phone and told me I needed to meet my doctor at the hospital. All I could say was, "Really? You don't think this will go away?" She said go, so I ended my filming session, packed up my things, called Will to come get me (after briefly trying to decide if I should just take myself), and making my way up to the office to wait on Will. Of course all the ladies in the office were gathered around telling me to call to let them know what was going on. I reassured them that I was probably going to be told that I was constipated and would be returning to work in a few hours. No biggie. Will arrived at school with all our bags in tow. I definitely would not have loaded all our bags for this! We got to the hospital about 10:30 am, registered, and were sent to a room. I was told to change clothes and get in a bed to be monitored. I still was not planning on staying. The nurse (Diane) was wonderful. I know she thought I was crazy when she checked the fluid I had leaking and confirmed that it was my "water" leaking and I said, "So I'm really staying?" She said, "Yes, you are having a baby today." I couldn't believe it. We wanted to be surprised, but I still had two very important meetings to take care of on Friday! That was 10:45 am and I was 3 cm. I decided I should probably call my mama and tell her. I got all hooked up to the monitors, then they unhooked the cords so they could monitor me wireless. Will and I began our trek up and down the halls. I walked A LOT. As a couple of hours went by, those dull cramps progressed into very distinct contractions (more of what I expected). The contractions were much easier to handle when I was walking around. My doctor came in at 2:30 pm and I was 5 cm. My water still had not broken, so she did it for me. After that, I couldn't get out of the bed. My contractions progressed even further. Not very pleasant! I did not want to go into labor with any certain expectations, so I was not set on any certain plan for pain except breathing. I just couldn't decide about an epidural. At 3:30 pm I was 6 cm. After that, I decided to get the epidural because the contractions were pretty rough. So, we went through the whole process and it turned out to be a complete waste of time. It was TOO LATE. I had to start pushing at 4:35 pm because the baby was ready to get here. The epidural had no effect at all (even after the birth, it just didn't work for me). Apparently I have a pretty high pain tolerance. Will was by my side the entire time and did a fantastic job of not getting on my nerves! He was great! At 5:27 pm (in the middle of a bad storm and tornado watch) the doctor held up the baby for Will to see and he told me "It's a boy!" After Will cut the cord, they placed him right on my chest so I could see him better. He had a full head of dark hair. The first thing I thought was that he wasn't wrinkled. I expected him to be all blotchy and wrinkled, but he had a very good complexion (not that any of that matters). We knew if we had a boy we'd name him after Will, but we really just decided that week on what we'd call him and how we'd spell it. On February 18, 2009 we go to meet William Crane Ross, III "Wylie". I guess it's a good thing Will threw all our stuff in the truck before picking me up from school!