John's Birth Story

Ok- I have to write everything down before I forget it so here goes. I planned on having a scheduled c-section on December 28th since my due date was jan 1st but the baby had other plans. On dec 23rd (nine days early!!!), after staying up late cleaning (my laws were suppose to come over the next day) I woke up at 1:40 AM and my water broke. My first thought was, "is this serious enough to necessitate getting out of bed?" I was really tired. Well I got out of bed and discovered yes it was. I woke up Neil and told him to start packing a bag for me and then hobbled into the bathroom to take a shower. And here my crazy vanity is revealed. I planned on getting fully ready, make up, hair do, and all, but the minute I stepped into the shower I started having contractions. Not nice slow just starting labor contractions but contractions of death. I then had death contractions for the next three hours, three minutes apart. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I managed to finish my shower in record time and Neil and I drove to the hospital. I thought that if I went into labor I would get to the hospital and then have the c-section within minutes but that is not the case. I was checked and hooked up to some monitors. My memory is a little fuzzy here but Neil says I asked for drugs every time the nurse came in. I finally got some Demerol and they gave me something to try to slow the contractions but these contractions were a force to be reckoned with and did not slow down at all. And I was actually progressing this time. So the doctor came in an hour early and John Wilford Larson was born at 5:27 AM. Not without some difficulty however. If you will look a few posts back I told my doctor the baby was huge but she did not believe me. The hugeness of the baby was proven however when he became stuck as they were trying to get him out. I felt tugging and tugging and the baby started crying but out he would not come. His shoulders were firmly stuck. Finally with a quick yank he was freed and the doctor exclaimed, "He has to be at least 8 1/2 pounds and he looks like a football player!" And they told me he was barely 6 pounds before! John was in fact only 7 pounds 14 ounces but next time they will need to make a bigger incision, Grace had gotten stuck too. I felt much better after this c-section then the last one and they even released us from the hospital a day early so we got to go home on Christmas. And that is how John Wilford Larson made his appearance into this world.