Big Day

I started contracting around 3:20 a.m. and they kicked into full gear an hour later. I woke J. up, we got ready and then we headed out the door around 5 a.m. As you can see from the photo, I was ecstatic. This would be the last day we'd have our house alone. Surprisingly, everything was very calm and surreal. We even made a trip to CVS so J. could pick up a prescription, and to Dunkin Donuts for a cup of coffee. J. started making the rounds of phone calls to family. First, his parents who were driving down from Vermont. Then my parents and sisters were up next.

As my mom walked into work, she received J.'s call. She turned around and walked right back out. Oh yeah, who can forget my doctor? Dr. Michael Feinstein. He was contacted and was on his way to the hospital; or at least that's what we thought. More on that later.

So my mom shows up and that's when the nurse on-duty decided it was time to hook me up to an I.V. Side Note: J. and I came up with a checklist of key information that he was to convey to doctors and nurses when the big day came. We decided to do this because we knew I wasn't going to be in the best condition to communicate with anybody. One of the most important things we discussed was: if anyone were to stick me with anything, they needed to be an experienced nurse or doctor. No students or retards. Well, we got the retard. She stuck me over and over again, in multiple places, while wiggling and jamming the needle in my arm. This continued for ummm...15 agonizing minutes. So much for the checklist. Thanks, J. The pain she inflicted on me was worse than my contractions. No kidding. By the way, she didn't even land a vein! I bled all over the sheets and on my gown. She left the room and another nurse came back 20 minutes later. This time, we got a good nurse. First try, only try, 1 minute, done! And why didn't they send this one the first time?

It was time to head to the delivery room. Shortly after arriving there, they gave me the epidural. Another painful experience. Not because of the anesthesiologist, but because it's a loooong needle stuck in between vertebrae. Ouch! But worth it. Back to my doctor. He never showed up. His partner from his office decided to give Dr. Feinstein a break and took over for him. Enter Dr. Timothy Shawl. I had seen him as a patient once before so I felt comfortable having him deliver. He turned out to be great! The delivery room was quite the scene. Aside from the doctor and nurses, J. my mom and both my sisters were in the room. Hospital rule: only 3 people in the room that the mother chooses. So how did we manage 4? Taking turns, hiding in the closet or bathroom. I had my doctor and 2 nurses taking care of me. They were fine with the number of people in the room. There was just 1 rogue nurse that subbed in while my head nurse went on break. And that's when a game of hide-n-seek began between her and my mom & sisters, only with them getting caught. But that didn't stop them from coming back for the grand finale.