Jude's Birth

Jude's birth story starts on Monday, July 19, 2004. I was having some pretty powerful contractions Monday night. They were timable and I was having to breath through them. I called the doctor on call who told me to try to take a bath and lie down and see if they would stop. If not, come on in. Well, they stopped. So I went to sleep and actually slept really well. So, Tuesday morning, we got up and went on to work at Park Structures. I didn't mention to Adam that the contractions had started up again. I didn't want to send off any false alarms. So we dropped Zoe and Sebastian off at daycare and headed to work. We both worked downtown so we rode together. I dropped him off at his office and went to mine. While I did my work, I continued to time the contractions. I kept track of them on a purple steno pad on my desk. Around lunch time, I decided they were regular enough and I was uncomfortable enough to call the doctor. I called her and she said I could come by and she would check me. I called Adam and we headed to the doctor. I told my immediate supervisor where I was going and that I would probably not be back for awhile. We got to the doctor about 12 noon and she confirmed that I was indeed almost 5 cm and that I should go home and get my stuff and meet her at the hospital. We got home and, since Adam was suffering from a sinus infection, he had a fever. So, he took a nap while I labored along, periodically stopping to breath through contractions. He took about an hour before I woke him up and told him to come on! He still felt terrible, but we headed to the hospital. I called my friend, Janice, who was going to pick up Zoe and Sebastian, our moms and Kim and Christine. My Mom headed this way (she lived in Memphis) to relieve Janice when she got here. Adam's family would come the next morning. Kim and Christine came to the hospital and walked the halls with me while Adam tried to sleep off his fever. Finally, we were left to labor on our own. Around 10:30 pm, I was seriously deep into transition and Adam's fever broke finally! It was perfect timing because that's when I needed him. The nurse came in and I told her that I wanted an epidural. While she was in the room, my water broke. The nurse left the room to go get the epidural and call the doctor. While she was gone, I felt an incredible urge to push and I couldn't stop it. The nurse came back in as I was pushing Jude out! She scooped him up off the bed! Then she called the doctor, who arrived about 20 minutes later to stitch a tiny tear I had. By the time the doctor got there, Jude had been cleaned and I was holding him. The Nurse Practitioner, who went to our church, had already checked him out and given him apgars of 9 and 9. He weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. My sweet little man, Jude-a-licious!