On April 17th at 8pm, my mom arrived in town to surprise us. It was unexpected and it was a total surprise (which doesn't always bring out the best in me) but as you will see this was a blessing that we couldn't have planned better ourselves. We went to bed that night and I woke up around 3 am feeling "fidgety". I had all this nervous energy, which I attributed to being 9 months pregnant and having been surprised by my mom. Around 5:30am I finally got out of bed and went to get some coffee and chat with my mom....she's an early bird, so this worked out. The next morning, we got together with my sister and went for pedicures while Kyle joined some of the grad students from his lab for a couple of birthday beers (April 18th was Kyle's 32nd birthday). We went for lunch after our pedicures and went home to take a nap before heading out to meet Kyle for crawfish around 2pm. I curled up in the bed and the dog jumped right up next to me. This is only odd if you know our dog....he usually has to be coaxed up into the bed and will only stay for a few minutes. On this day, he laid right next to me and didn't move for the next hour.
I woke up from my nap at 2 and went to the bathroom....where my water immediately broke and I thought "Oh *$%^@, my water just broke.". I got it together and went into the living room to tell my mom (asleep on the couch at this point) that it was "go time". She stared at me like I was insane and then jumped off the couch and headed to change out of her pajamas.....then she wandered around slightly panicked while I called Kyle. Kyle was out having drinks with friends. I called, told him that my water had broken and we needed to go to the hospital. The look on his face must have tipped off the entire table because it sounded like everyone started talking at once and Kyle said he would be home in 5 minutes (let's just say he sounded a bit excited). At this point, Kyle told the entire table that we were having a baby, then headed inside to pay his tab. He tried to hurry the bartender with our good news....and the bartender paid his tab (score....baby and free beer!). According to onlookers, Kyle left a 23 oz beer on the table and ran to the car to the sound of applause and cheers from the entire back porch of Mad Hatters (excellent 80s bar). At this point, I was standing in the middle of our kitchen with a pool of water forming at my feet....the entire scenario was like a movie. The sheer volume of fluid was astounding....and a bit nasty....and fascinating.
When Kyle got home, he kissed me and asked what to do next. Bag was packed, sister had agreed to watch the dog, so Kyle called Labor and Delivery to make sure that we should go ahead and come in. We were off! After a short stop at my sister's house, during which Kyle looked panicked while I dilly-dallied, we arrived at St. Joseph's around 3pm. Once we were admitted and taken up to L&D, we found out that not only was I not contracting (boo!) but I was not dilating either (double boo). Four attempts at an IV and some foul language on my part later, the Pitocin started flowing and we were in business. Note: Pitocin is a bitch.
I made it until 7:30 without an epidural....by that time, my pitocin level was getting higher and the contractions were coming really strong and really close together but my cervix had not gotten the message to start dilating. So---I was in serious discomfort and I decided to get the epidural. Kyle watched the entire procedure and only got "wiggly" when they injected the saline to spread out the nerves. I don't think it was the injection of 50 cc of saline, but rather my loud gasp in response to said 50 cc of saline that put Kyle on the sofa with his feet up breathing deeply. :-). At some point, the anesthesiologist did something that did not feel very good, so I whispered "Piss on your mom!"...only the nurse heard me, but she had to put forth extra effort not to lose it (she was holding my torso still and laughing would not have been a good idea). Later that night, Kyle went to get me a drink and heard the nurses laughing hysterically about my comment....if only they could have heard what I was thinking when they were digging around for an IV!
Epidural was awesome and Kyle and I actually started to get excited about meeting our daughter. At around 2:30 am, I was still not dilating (only 4-5cm at this point) and I started to feel pain in my back and pelvis. Poor Kyle spent the next 1.5 hours trying to keep me from losing my mind with panic....not about the birth, but about going through the birth in pain. The Pitocin was making the contractions come really fast and strong, but the anesthesiologist was not coming back so fast. I dilated 4 cm in the next hour, sans epidural, and by the time the doctor got back to the room and gave me another dose in the eipdural it was time to push. I pushed for less than an hour and Campbell Susan Baumbauer was born. Kyle was such a trooper! He saw the birth and cut the umbilical cord. He even held her when she was covered in baby gunk. From where I was sitting, he looked immediately smitten. Campbell proceeded to scream for the next hour......and to totally enchant us while doing it.
The next few days are a blur of exhaustion, joy, feeling icky, feeling wonderful, and trying to decipher what this little being wanted from us. Here are some pictures of the baby from the first few days. I will post some additional pictures from her first week or two at home. I promise not to let this blog get too far behind again.....I just haven't been able to drag myself away from Little Camy Sue's face long enough to do anything other than shower. I have totally fallen in love with a short balding toothless woman!
Alright...so I never thought I would post a picture of my child before she was all spit-polished, but this was too hard to resist. Look at that old-man-face! This is the face that we see everytime she gets too cold. Just like Dad!
Here we are...looking like a HOT MESS after delivery. The stuff they put in baby's eyes mad her look greasy, but I promise she is cute. :-)
Dad and Camy Sue in the hospital bed....Kyle took the sofa/yoga mat both nights, so I finally gave him some time in the bed.
Camy Sue after she passed her hearing test....can't you tell how proud she is?
And---signing off with a little salute to the troops serving overseas. Camy is very patriotic already.
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