Birth-day Part 1

8am thankfully, I’d made the hospital bag list on Friday. Change of clothes, Ipods with the birth playlists, camera, exercise ball, Lagavullin scotch and Navarro Gewurtzraminer grape juice, and an orchid for Julie. We were relaxed about gathering our stuff, but we both hoped for a false alarm. Unfortunately, Julie kept gushing through the new powder blue gauchos we Targéted yesterday because we were sick of her everyday jeans. 9.30am Beautiful crisp Sunday morning, perfect for a day of chores…or having a child. Drive past the pink and white dogwoods, the last cherry blossoms, and the crinkles of spring dresses. Check into Sibley Hospital and get settled with our nurse Virginia. She’s getting married in the summer to a Moroccan restaurant owner and has practiced at my yoga studio. A good sign, and some understanding for the yoga mat and meditation cushion I brought. 11am We’ve seen the doc. Julie is only 1cm, and we’re not sure why she’s broken so early, but Damiana is coming today, for sure. Can’t say we weren’t hoping for the “Get Out of Jail” card, but we’ll roll. Julie looks cute in green socks and a hospital robe. Regular contractions, no real pain, Julie’s high pain threshold is in full effect. 12.30pm No breakfast for Everett until now. Julie is settled in and time to take advantage of the long wait. Snacks, coffee, goodies for Julie and I return to hear that Dami’s heart rate dropped too low for a minute, but she and Mom are back on track. Figured it wasn’t serious since the doc didn’t call on the cell, but things change quickly. 2.50pm Julie sits on the exercise ball to help the pressure on her back and her hips. I give a good massage on her shoulder blades and spine to keep her muscles loose. She wants touch more than anything today, and I’m glad we have so much good lotion at home. But…Dami’s heart rate plunges from 128 to 90 after a big contraction. This time, 2 nurses, an anesthesiologist, and another OB rush in one after another. They are professional and friendly in speech, but efficient and taut in motion—a combination that says to me SWAT team. Serious. Prepared. 3.15pm We expected an epidural later, but they put one in now, just in case we need to go to the op right away. Oh. This IS significant. First time Julie felt pain + fear of big needles. The doc tried to distract us by asking us questions about how we met. When I got to the parts of the story that Julie likes to “correct”, she didn’t even jump in. Serious concentration, serious breathing. Julie was taking big deep swimmers breaths, so the nurse and I tried to get her to take yogi breaths, long, slow and a pause in between. Better—the tension in her shoulders subsided. Dami’s heart rate is back to normal, and the drugs are starting to come in. There’s air in the room again. 3.50pm The delivery Dr. comes back, and tells Julie she is not happy about Dami’s change in heart rate. Dr. Lightfoot tells us that she doesn’t need to watch for another bad reaction. Julie is still only 1 cm, and pitosin (sp?) is not Dami’s favorite medicine. We know what’s coming. I’m trying to keep a straight face and not to register disappointment. We ask all the questions, but there is not a choice to be made really.