Calvin's Big Debut

Calvin has arrived! And here's a bit about his big debut:

On Sunday, the 23rd, I woke up to contractions consistently 2-5 minutes apart, but they weren't painful. They remained consistent as I got myself ready for church. When I woke up Michael I told him about the contractions and said that I might be in labor. He said that we weren't going to church then because he didn't want my water to break at church (I can agree with that...how embarrassing and what a mess!). So we stayed home from church thinking that I was probably in labor. The contractions turned out to be nothing. But we couldn't help trying a few things to induce labor. I went on a couple walks, bounced on a birthing/exercise ball, ate spicy food, drank cumin and raspberry leaf tea, and Michael tried some acupressure points on my hands, ankles, and shoulders. Michael also wanted me to gallop, but that's where I drew the line :) None of these tactics brought immediate results (other than more painless contractions), and so we move on to Monday.

Monday, I took the kids to the park where I joked with my friends that I may be in labor right then. But my wish didn't come true. I simply kept having boring Braxton Hicks contractions. Monday night I couldn't fall asleep. My restless leg syndrome was driving me crazy. I finally fell asleep around 2:30 or so.

At 6:00 I was awakened by a painful contraction. After 15 minutes of painful contractions coming every 2-5 minutes I woke Michael up and told him we should get to the hospital. Daisy had come quickly and I didn't want to chance having a baby at home or on the way. We got the kids up and ready. Called our friend, Nicole, to watch our kids, but she didn't answer. So with kids in tow we got to the hospital around 7:15. As soon as we got to the hospital my contractions became painless. I was disappointed, but the hospital staff still thought that I was in labor (regular contractions and dilated to a 3) so they wanted to keep me. I figured we might as well get it done and over with since I was tired of being pregnant. We eventually got up with Nicole and Michael dropped the kids off. Meanwhile I walked the hospital hallways. With lots of walking I had consistent contractions, but I was still pain-free and I didn't feel like I was ever going to make any progress. So, I got an IV and they administered pitocin. That worked really well an as soon as I started getting cranky from the contractions Michael suggested that I get the epidural :) . The on-call anesthesiologist was really good and the only pain I felt was from the local numbing needle. The epidural began working right away, but it seemed like it was only an hour later and I was having to breathe through contractions again because of the pain. I got my nurse to check me thinking that if I was close I would just grin and bear it, but if I was not progressed much I would ask them to fix the epidural. As she was checking she said, "Oh. Oh! We need to get your doctor here! You're all ready to go!" That news made me extremely happy. It took a while to set me all up to push, but even still we were stuck waiting for my doctor who had to see one more appointment before coming in to the hospital. I was tempted to just go ahead without him, but didn't :) . As an aside, my hospital bed was broken. You know how they can raise the bed up or lower it down to the height they want? Well, my bed preferred to be all the way up or all the way down. If they tried to leave it in between, it would slowly lower itself back to the bottom. So, when my nurse set me up to push, I was all the way at the top. As we waited for my doctor to arrive, my nurse told me about a woman who had an epidural that made it hard for her to push. She tried and tried, but was making no progress. She also had a respiratory infection. She had a coughing fit and the coughing actually helped her push. So they told her to keep coughing and she coughed her baby out! Made me laugh. My nurse told me, "Well we were going to try a practice push, but I can already see the baby's head." Then she suggested I just give a little cough and see what happens. Immediately she said "No more coughing!" She was worried she would have to deliver the baby before the doctor got there. She had already delivered one of his babies earlier that day and didn't want him to get upset. I started laughing and she said, "No! No laughing either!" I guess laughing ha the same effect as coughing. But when someone tells you not to laugh sometimes it just makes it that much harder to stop. It took me a minute before I could control my laughter. Especially since everyone else in the room was laughing. Eventually my doctor arrived and asked me to push. After the second push the doctor suctioned the baby's nose and mouth. Then he said, "Don't give me a push, but give me a half-push." My nurse chimed in with "Yeah, just laugh for him." So I laughed and laughed my baby right out! :) When he came out we realized that we had a miracle baby. His umbilical cord had been tied in a knot. The doctor said that they usually see those babies in the OR. Michael cut the cord and they laid Calvin on my chest. Calvin Tiberius Hummel was born at 5:56 pm on October 25, 2011. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 inches long.

We sure love him!