I woke briefly on the morning of Sunday, April 27 around 7:00 am and felt some light cramping.  I dozed off and on until 8:30 when I decided to get up, get dressed, make the bed and see if what I thought was happening was in fact - happening.  Matthew had woken about a half an hour before me and was with Mike watching a movie.  I went down to say good morning and see what they were up to. Mike looked at me,  and asked me what was up.  I told him, in a bit of a high-pitched tone - “Oh not too much”  to which he read into my cue perfectly.  We went upstairs while Matthew watched his movie and I filled Mike in on my suspicions that today was “the day”.   He ran up to Timmie’s to grab coffee but I opted for a tea from home instead.  Matt enjoyed his chocolate chip muffin for breakfast though! :S

I decided to sweep the floors and make sure the house was in oder.  I had a shower and sent Mike to the laundry room with a couple of small loads to run through.  By the time I was done drying my hair and getting dressed we decided to tell Matthew that I was having some pain.  I wanted to make sure though, because  didn’t want to disappoint him.   We were supposed to be going to a birthday party for my Uncle whose 60th birthday was that day.  We would still send Matt with Mom and Dad, but we’d hang tight home, just in case.

By 11:30 I decided we’d better get things together and head to the hospital - just to get checked as the contractions were getting closer - and stronger. This is happening very quickly.

I called my sister, who was my second support person and told her we were heading up.  By the time we dropped Matt off at Mom and Dad’s and made our way through town it was about 12:10 and we walked into Labour and Delivery at 12:15.

They hooked me up to the monitor and checked me, I was 5 cms and the contract ions were getting stronger and closer.  I decided lying down was horrible so I got them to raise the bed and I sat up in the bed.  What a difference that made!  The Dr. had prescribed  Dilaudid for pain, but really I was doing ok and didn’t need it.  He only lives 5 minutes away so he wasn’t sticking around but said to cal him when  got to 8-9 cms and he’d be right there.  There was a young female resident who was there who was fantastic.

After running the strip on me for about 20-30 minutes they suggested that I get up and walk for a while to see if I’d progress any more.  At the same time, another nurse (“spitfire”, we have affectionately nicknamed her) told me to get up and get in the shower with the hot water at my back.  My sister came in and held the nozzle while I sat backwards bent over a chair.  I have never had anything feel so good.  It was awesome.  However, it was short-lived.  I had a couple of small contractions while I was sitting there, but the third one was a doozie!!!  Holy Hanah, what was happening??  My body was pushing, right there on the chair!!  I told my sister to stop the water, I needed a cold facecloth and i told them to get me out of there - NOW!  Talk about scurry!  They were trying to get a johnny-shirt on me and get me to the bed because all I said was “He’s coming!”

Once they got me onto the bed they told me to hang on a second until they checked me.  I could hardly move I needed to push so bad but they were great and quick and worked fast to get me positioned.  Looked like the Resident was going to be delivering because there was no way they had time to call the Dr.  In about 30 minutes I went from 5 cms to TEN CENTIMETERS!!!!  We’re good to go (…like they had to tell ME that!)  When they checked me they could see his head.  All they said was “You tell us when you’re ready to push.”  So on the next contraction I pushed.  I could feel him descending.  I don’t remember feeling that with Matthew.  It was burning so badly, but it was because he was crowning and was moving very fast through the birth canal.  The next contraction I pushed again and his head came out and he turned to have his shoulders properly placed.  That was an interesting sensation.  Please let another contraction come quickly because this really burned.  It seemed like 2 hours, but it was probably on 45 seconds or so before the next contraction.  There was no way I was going through this any longer, he’s outta here.  “Here we go!” I said.   I pushed like I have never pushed before in my life and I couldn’t believe what I was feeling.   Out he came flying!!  Three pushes.  Maybe 10 minutes from the time I got out of the shower.  No doctor, no meds, no nothing.   There was no time - jumpins’ they were gonna send me walking for an hour!  It was now 1:52 pm and Marcus was here.

The nurses and the resident did awesome!!  They were so great!  I was as impressed with them as they were with me!   LOL  After they let Mike cut the cord and they had Marcus over checking him out, my Dr. came in.  I looked at him and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be quite THAT fast!”  We all laughed.  He was there to watch the resident deliver the placenta and because Marcus came so quickly I had a second-degree tear, so he allowed her to stitch me.  She was wonderful.

During the stitching, Mike, my sister and I were all on our cell phones..lol.  The first call was to Matthew who was out at the BBQ.  The place went nuts when Matthew announced that Marcus was here.  No ne could believe it!

Shortly after, I sent a text through to my CPOers who were on stand-by!  It all happened so fast.  The next thing I knew they were moving us to our room and my sister (who is a nurse in the hospital) had to leave because of the visitor restrictions.

We had to wait four hours to feed Marcus but he slept beside us the entire time.  He weighed in at 8 lbs 1 ounce and was 20.5 inches long.

As I write this it is 1:00 AM on Monday morning.  We woke him to feed him at 10:00 pm, changed him and he’s been asleep since.

I wanted to get this much written down and typed in before there were parts that would slip my mind.  I’ll get more typed later and I’ll add pictures as well.

But, to sum it up quickly, simply amazing is the only thing I can say!

Until next time…

We’re never happy, are we? No matter what happens we can always find something to gripe about.

First of all, in my case, I became pregnant (not that I wasn’t happy about this, I was just stunned beyond words), then I wanted to be “12 weeks” pregnant, then I wanted to be “20 weeks pregnant” and past the point where we lost Emily, and then I wanted to be 38 weeks 1 day pregnant, past the point where I had Matthew and then I wanted Marcus to be here and now that I am at my due date I want Marcus to be here more.

Why am I not satisfied to just let time go by as it sees fit and enjoy things as they come? I know I’m tired, I know I’m sore, I know I’m cranky, I know I’m anxious, but I also know I’m thankful. Out of 4 pregnancies I have had the best, most wonderful 40 weeks that I have ever had in my life, even with all the tiredness, soreness, crankiness and anxiety. This has pretty much been a perfect pregnancy for me. No complications, no scares, no surprises. I’m so blessed and fortunate.

So why do I keep wishing time away?

I think it’s human nature. We (at least I) are always in such a hurry to get on with things that I very rarely stop to enjoy the moment and appreciate life as it’s happening. I wish my life away. Before I know it, Matthew will be grown, Marcus will be grown and then what? What happens then?

I need to slow down and not be in such a hurry to have the next event in my life happen. I really need to stop and smell the roses. Everything happens for a reason, in it’s own time, for it’s own reason. (Although the reason for me being awake at 4:45 AM totally baffles me at the moment…lol)

I am going to try to work on that. Relaxing, chillin’ out, just “being”. Wonder if I can do it?

Let’s start with enjoying April 26, 2008. We’ll see what he day brings, and if it doesn’t bring Marcus into this world, well hey, there’s always tomorrow, right??

Until next time….

Here I sit, all alone on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. Housework is done and everything I had to finish up for “work’ is done, as well. Matt spent the evening and subsequently the day today with my Mom and Dad, which is pretty much the weekend ritual lately. He loves it, they love having him and I had a chance to get lots of “stuff” done around here today. Mike is working day shift . This leaves me to sit and ponder the mysteries of the universe.

Will this be the last chance I have by myself? How different will our lives be days or weeks from now? Matthew seems to be thrilled about Marcus’ arrival; will his enthusiasm continue once Marcus actually arrives? I have a billion thoughts going through my mind and no answers. his is what frustrates me about this thing we call life. I have very little control over things until they actually happen. That drives me batty. I can prepare and I can surmise what is going to happen, or how I hope things are going to go, but until events take place I have to try to be patient and let the chips fall where they may. Easier said than done, I’m afraid. The unknown drives me bonkers!

I guess at the end of the day all I can do is try to be as prepared as possible - for any situation. I have to have several plans of action outlined in my mind and be able to draw on the fact that anything could happen.  Sounds like I’m getting ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs or something, doesn’t it? Well I am, kind of.  Life is my opponent and in order to win, I have to be ready for anything. I have to be realistic enough to realize that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is and just when I think things are running smoothly a kink will be thrown in somewhere along the line. It’s all in how you handle the kinks that will determine the outcome. As much as I believe we create our own destiny, we can only do it to the best of our ability to accept that things can go well and they can go not so well but how we react can have a definite positive or negative effect on any give situation.

So as I babble on like a woman who is 20 days away from her due date I realize that as long as I keep an open mind about the immediate future I can to some extent control how it is going to play out. If I fret over something that may or may not happen, I’m wasting my energy; which at this point can be directed in much better ways.

I have to have faith, I have to have confidence, and I have to have trust that I have handled worse and gotten through it all just fine. This is just another chapter. We will be thickening the plot and adding another character - the main idea may expand a bit also, but the general story line is going to remain the same. I must go back and refresh myself as to the strengths and weaknesses of my main character. A character study never hurt anyone - actually, it normally does me all the good in the world.

Now, enough philosophizing. Time to go enjoy this beautiful day.

Until next time…