The Full Story - Novel Version

I had false labor on February 26th from 3 AM to 12 PM, and I thought for sure it was the real thing, but then everything randomly stopped right at noon. I was horribly disappointed, especially since I had tried taking castor oil the day before. Castor oil is the most disgusting stuff for any human being to ingest willingly. And it obviously didn't work. So I went through the rest of the week perfectly miserable, waiting for my Thursday appointment to beg for some kind of induction. Y'all, I was HUGEMONGOUS. Bigger than I got with Lucy in terms of how much my tummy protruded. Wednesday night, March 2nd, at 11:45 I had a really, really strong contraction and even told Skye about it. He announced the time, I told him not to get his hopes up, and we both went to sleep.

At 2:45 AM I woke up with a start and laid in bed trying to figure out what woke me. About five minutes later, I had another contraction. I didn't want to wake anyone, so I just tried to doze in case it wasn't the real thing. At 3:15 I couldn't even pretend to sleep anymore but I still didn't want to wake anyone. There was no hurry, I figured, since my labor with Lucy lasted 24 hours from start to finish. I got up by myself, grabbed my watch, and went out to the family room to lay on the couch and time my contractions. I had two sets - a very strong, minute long contraction every five minutes and then a lighter, 30 second contraction in between those. I'd never heard of that happening, so I figured that it must be false labor. It was 4 AM, I went back to bed.

At 4:30 AM I woke up Skye telling him I was having some serious labor pains. He helped me time them - 45 seconds, four minutes apart. Midwife said to call her when they were a minute long, five minutes apart, for a full hour. I wasn't sure if this qualified yet. We went through it together until 5:15 AM, when I told Skye he should probably get dressed and I would go talk to my mother about staying home with Lucy in case we had to go in for me to be checked. She, like me, figured I would be in labor for a looooong time. She didn't think I needed to call the midwife, neither did I. Then, at 5:55, everything inside me changed and I was hit with a sudden sense of urgency.

I made Skye call the midwife, who we woke up of course. When he told her what my body was up to, she said I'd better come in and be checked but that she wouldn't be there. She called a replacement and the two students I've been working with - the midwife's husband was in the hospital with hip-replacement surgery and her own babysitter had fallen through. 

Skye and my mother continued to take their time getting ready and I tried to be patient. I was doing REALLY well with contractions, especially compared to last time. Last time, I was a complete nervous wreck. This time I calmly breathed through the contractions and walked around to keep them "productive." Anyway, I finally lost my patience and said, "We have to go RIGHT NOW." We were in the car at 6:10 AM. The birthing center is thirty minutes from our home. But the highway was JAMMED. Skye saw this and, calmly and coolly, took an alternate route with me finally losing my cool during contractions. 

We arrived at 6:40 AM, despite the detour, and I was starting to hit panic mode. I told Skye when we pulled up outside the house-converted-to-woman's-care-center to honk the horn. He laughed at me - LAUGHED - and asked what I thought that would do for us. He helped me out of the car and in we went. The replacement midwife (who is from another center down the road and, coincidentally, will be delivering both Autumn and Laura's babies) assisted me into the office and to the exam table, which I climbed on to (through another contraction). She was all ready to "check on things" when I -VERY CALMLY - told her, "I'm feeling the urge to push right now." She nixed the exam, took me in to the lovely Rose Room (rooms are set up more bed and breakfast style than anything, with an in-room, huge bathtub and such) and no sooner had we stepped into the room than my water broke.

I was in bed seconds later, with Skye stuck holding my hand. He was hoping to be in on the action a bit more but once I started going I was not letting him take a step away from me. I think that disappointed him a little in the end.... But, I needed him. It was an awesome experience.At 6:55 AM, Tarver was officially born. So...about four hours of labor (that I'm aware of) and we had a healthy little boy in our arms. :-) That's the story.

We were home by 11:00 AM and put him right in Lucy's arms. 

The end. :-)