A baby story

After months and months of anticipation, Stanton had one last hurdle to jump. He notoriously had stated that she could come any time after he got his thesis and another proposal submitted on November 15th. So the week prior he was working long nights, I found myself alone quite a bit. Which gave me time to focus on the upcoming adventures and to support him when I knew that in a few days I would need the favor returned. On Saturday, November 15th, he took a break from his busy schedule and we went to the Baylor football game. If I remember correctly, the Bears put a beat down on the Aggies on the last home game of the season. It was very nice. And as we sat at the top of the bleachers all I could think was that this would be our last football game with just us two (well, that and how absurd it was for me to be wearing shorts during a football game in November). After the game, Stantonio went back to work like a good little worker bee. I finished the day watching some tv and just doing what large pregnant women do. Everything seemed fine that evening until I did something I never thought I would do. During my nice hot shower that evening. I had this overwhelming thirst. And thats when I did it. I drank water from the showerhead. And mind you this is no ordinary water. This was Waco water. I typically don't even drink that icy cold unless there is some drastic situation. When Stanton came home late, at about 11 I told him the weirdness and finished quenching my thirst with a suitable glass of filtered water. My poor hubby was so tired, he went right to bed. And I followed, because I've always been a good sleeper and late in my pregnancy I was even beginning to accept reasonable bed times.

Then it happened at about 2 am. I woke up to a wet spot in my bed (by the way best tip ever - make sure there is a water proof mattress cover on your bed if you are pregnant). I went to the bathroom and I knew what was going on. My water had broke. But it wasn't like when people on tv have their waterbreak with a big gush and done. Mine was more of a water leak. I woke Stanton up (marginally) and said "My water broke." His response "What do we do?" I told him to go back to sleep and see if anything else happened. This may seem crazy, but our child birth instructor told us that once you check in to the hospital and your water is broken, they put you on a 24 hour clock. And they get that baby out in 24 hours. The instructor said that if your water breaks and you aren't feeling any contractions or anything, you can wait and try to rest up before the event. Stanton also said we had to call the parents. I thought that they could use the rest too, and really felt like my body had a ways to go before any of the exciting stuff. So with my very groggy husband back asleep, I did what seemed right. I watched some lifetime movies and infomercials as I drifted in between consciousness. To this day I still don't know how I was able to get any more rest. A true blessing from God. At about 7:30, Stanton came out and seemed really confused. I really think he might have thought that he had dreamed the whole thing. We talked a bit and called the parents. I knew my parents and the rest of my family were well on their way to church to surprise my Grandma Schluterman for her 80th birthday followed by a party. I really wanted them to go to that and then come as quickly as possible. Stanton's parents would be quick movers and pack up to make their way down ASAP. So we called and shared the news and then we took the morning slow. Stanton ate his breakfast, we made a couple calls to local friends and made sure someone could cover our Sunday school class.

We were eventually ready to make our way to the hospital. I had my comfy clothes on and entertainment out the wazoo. As soon as you check in, they strip you down and put all kinds of wires on you, to keep up with the baby and the mommy. Pretty quickly, they had me set up on with an IV just in case I needed or wanted drugs later. I was proud of myself for not passing out and have a photo to commemorate my accomplishment. However, the photo is suitable for my eyes only. The monitor kept showing that I was having these massive contractions, but I could barely feel a thing. I was thanking God for being so loving and helping me through this time in my life that had been so hard for so many other women. Then, the nurse figured out that the monitor wasn't really monitoring me too well. And then came the most uncomfortable part of the whole thing...and internal monitor. Yes, some of the stuff later was painful, but this was an all day long issue and just a bother. After they realized my contractions were not as strong as the external monitor had displayed, they decided to put me on some pitocin. This is a drug that tries to get things going more quickly. At this point I knew I had made the right decision in waiting to come to the hospital as soon as I knew what was going on. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Since it was Sunday, my doctor was not going to be able to deliver my baby. It was another doctor, thankfully another female doctor named Dr. Sawyer. I didn't really see her too much, but she seemed nice.

Stanton and I sat in the hospital delivery room talking about not much of anything. We had already talked about how exciting this day was going to be and all the changes that were about to happen for so long, we were just ready and hanging out. After a while, MA showed up. She was such a delight. She has a daughter who was 5 at the time. She is a fantastic mom, and it was nice to be able to talk about some serious things and some not so serious things on this very important day in our lives. I can't remember a specific time table, but at some point MA and Stanton went for some food down in the cafeteria. From what I hear, they had some good conversation and really came back ready to take care of business.

As the day progressed, so did my contractions. I am happy to report that I really didn't start feeling the contractions too much until early afternoon. That is, after the pitocin really started to kick in. I went through several rounds of contractions and I was doing ok. But as the contractions got harder, I couldn't deal with it. I so badly wanted to have an all natural child birth. I had prayed that I would have the strength to make it. But as things intensified, I started crying, not so much because of the pain, but because I knew I wasn't going to make it. Stanton reassured me that what was best was for me to do what seemed right, not go by some idea I had. And that was what we had said before. Hopefully I can make it all by myself, but I was willing to try some IV drugs (not an epidural) to take the edge off. As our child birth instructor put it, the IV drugs are like a good margarita, you still feel the pain, you just don't care so much. And that is pretty much how it went. Only just like a margarita, the other side effect was extreme drowsiness. In between contractions, I slept. At one point our LG friend Allison came in to show some support. After a contraction, I strained to roll over to say hello and thank her for coming, but I just couldn't make it. It was the weirdest thing. I could not force myself to stay awake. But as another contraction rolled around, I would roll onto my right side, where Stanton would be waiting. I would squeeze his hand through the pain, he would give me some encouraging words and then I would drift right back off to sleepy land.

I think things went about the same from about 3:30-6:30, with the exception of Stanton's exit to give some directions to his parents. I rolled over for one contraction and there was Allison, stepping up to the plate, there to hold my hand and encouraging me. Apparently, she was quite freaked out by the whole thing, but I will never forget it. Also, I apparently said a couple of random things thanks to my loopiness. I remember seeing a picture of a donkey over my bed. And I told whoever was in there that I was seeing a donkey, and I knew it didn't belong in there, but that is what I saw. Unbeknown to me I also told my audience that my dad needed to get some new lead ropes for the horses. To Allison's relief, my dad does actually have horses. I proceeded to say that I had never done this before, and apologized for not being kosher. Those drugs do some weird things.

Outside the room, the waiting room was full of friends and eventually family waiting for the arrival of the little one. All our LG friends were hanging out just chatting and staying for the long haul. The arrival of Stanton's parents to the waiting room added an additional level of nervousness and excitement. They were all just waiting patiently and passing the time with some good ol' Dr. Pepper and good friends.

Not too much longer, little Chaselyn was ready to make her appearance. With just a few pushes, and lots of emotion, our baby entered the world. The doctor quickly put her up on my belly. Tears streamed for the both of us. Stanton and I had our baby girl. The proud dad cut the umbilical cord and they gave our sweet angel the once over and a wipe down. She was just as healthy as she could be. Born at 6:59 pm on November 16th, 2008 weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches long. What an amazing feeling. Finally getting to see her wonderful face, and holding her in my arms.

After everything was cleaned up the waiting room piled in to the delivery room. Ducky and Crawdad came in first and were followed by the multitude of friends. Everyone was so kind. It was so incredible to know that all these people would help us look out for our child and care for her and love her. After a short visit, they took her away to do a more thorough inspection.

Before too long my parents and sister showed up, ready to see the baby. Papa quickly suited up and went to film Stanton giving Chaselyn her first bath. Through video and pictures, you can see how delicate he was being and how much he didn't want to hurt her. After all the inspections and a bath, she got to come to the room with me and everyone took a turn holding her. Before too long, visiting hours were over. So the grandparents left to go sort out some kind of sleeping arrangement in our apartment. Stanton and I spent the night in the room with our baby. Happy to get up at every little whimper.

Simply AMAZING!