I need to issue a bit of a background on this pregnancy. This baby is the only baby I did not require several hospitalizations or home health care with. Don't get too happy for me, though...
I still threw up. I have very not-so-fond memories of driving through the carpool line with a cup in my hand for..., yea, you get it, no need to say it. Yes, while driving through the carpool line I threw up!
It was one of the most eventful pregnancies of all. I will try to hit the highlights:
The Twin Towers fell
My marriage was crumbling
I had to work on Thanksgiving Day
I was fired from Bayfront Hospital
My son was put on ADHD medication
We lived in a 2bedroom/1bath apt. above a photo studio
I got a parking ticket at least once a week
We thought the baby had Down's Syndrome from the AFP test
My Burgundy Explorer stopped forever on the Skyway Bridge
We got the passenger van with "limo lights" and a VCR
I ate lunch with my best friend almost every weekday
The Main Street Cafe was still open
We ate at Poppi's every Sunday
I was Meghan's T-ball Mom
Walt was Jeb's Assistant Coach
Jeb had his first baseball glove stolen
Meghan got a busted lip from playing baseball with Jeb
just in time for school pictures!
Reagan and Meghan had a dance recital at the Sarasota Opera Theatre
I had an epiphany while Jennifer went skiing in March
(if you want to know the epiphany...that's another post)
I went into labor the night before Meghan's T-Ball Team Banquet
(that I was in charge of)
It was 11:00pm on a Tuesday night. Everyone was fast asleep but me. I was watching Law and Order and I noticed that every time it went to a commercial I would have pain. By the end of the program I knew I was in labor and the contractions were pretty regular. I woke up Walt and called my in-laws who lived 2 hours away. Walt had to stay with the kids until his mom and dad got there to relieve him. So, how am I going to get to the hospital?
Walt wanted me to wait until his parents arrived. The last 3 labors had gone like this: 24 hours, 12 hours and 6. If I waited 2 hours and had already been in labor 1 hour...no way. I was getting an epidural this time! It was worth it. I would just drive myself. I could not take a chance in missing out on the pain relief.
Walt reluctantly took my bag down and drove the van around to the front of the photo studio. He helped me get in the vehicle and said, "Be careful. Call when you get there."
I put the car in gear and by the time I reached the end of the street under the red light, I had a contraction. That pattern would remain pretty consistent throughout the 5 minute drive. At every red light, I would have a contraction.
Once I parked and went into the ER and they sent me to Labor and Delivery the pain was subsiding a little. The nurse checked me and hooked up a baby monitor and started asking 20 questions. She was not too happy with the fact I drove myself to the hospital.
Turns out that the labor was not going to be 3 hours as I had so meticulously counted on. I ended up being admitted and taking a sleeping pill. Please don't ever do that. I just ended up with heavy, watery eyes, in and out of reality, all the while feeling every ounce of each contraction.
Sarah was born the next morning, May 8, 2002, by 9am.
Sarah is going to be our worship leader one day and she really knows how to make a grand and dramatic entrance, even from the womb! I think that might be quite prophetic for God's calling on her life!
