Wednesday 3.28.12
I'm headed to bed, the next day promises to be a VERY BUSY day with meetings, appointments, and classes from start to a late finish.
My sister is due with baby #2 in 3 weeks and her husband had to leave town for work. As I lay in bed, something in the back of my mind tells me to bring my cell phone to the bedroom in case she needs anything...I don't go back to get the phone...she'll be fine...she would call Matt's phone or the house phone if she REALLY needs anything. Wednesday night, 11:30 pm, I drift off to sleep.
Thursday 3.29.12
3:23 am the house phone rings...Matt answers, "Are you having a baby? OOOOOOHHHH sister!" I spring to my feet faster than I have ever moved before, get dressed. Matt hangs up the phone and says, "Becca thinks her water broke!" I am at my sister's 10 minutes later. She is surprisingly very calm and is really more concerned about the million things on her to-do-list for the next couple of days as she repeats over and over, "I am so annoyed, he is not supposed to come this early." I ask, "Are you having contractions?" Becca: "I don't know what a contraction feels like?" Yes, the drugs were that good when she had Zeda. :-)
We quickly get a bag packed for her, grab Jarrod a few things (as he is on his way home from St. Louis), and pack a few items for the baby. Becca thought she had another 3 weeks to get all of these things done... We decide that leaving Zeda asleep is the best choice at this point and call my dad to come sit with her while Becca and I go to the hospital.
4:10 am Jarrod is on his way home from St. Louis, my mom is on her way home from Kansas City, and Becca and I are on our way to St. Johns. On the way there, the pain comes, every 2-2 1/2 minutes...she now knows what a contraction feels like.
4:30 am We check into triage and at 4:31 we ask when she can get the epidural. :-) All of the nurses are very calm and simply talk through the admission process, schedule her for labs, all required to get the epidural. The first nurse checks her and found 2 things...1) The fluid is in fact amniotic fluid and 2) she is dilated to a 3. Great...how about that epidural?
5:20 am We get moved to Labor & Delivery where the labs will FINALLY be drawn so she can get one step closer to getting that epidural...she really needs one at this point. I'm watching the monitor for contractions and trying to talk her through them which is really not helping much. It takes two nurses to get an IV placed and the kind doctor who will be placing the epidural has spoken to her and made her watch a ridiculous video. Becca looks at me like, "yeah, got it, don't care about the risks, just give it to me already." Then we wait...and wait...and wait...
In the meantime, I am writing emails for Becca as she struggles through her very closely spaced contractions. I talk to Jarrod on the phone as he is getting closer and closer to Springfield and even though she is in so much discomfort I still really thought Jarrod had plenty of time...come to find out, so did Jarrod.
For those of you who know my sister, you know that she is pretty calm, relatively quiet, and laid back...until she is having a baby with no epidural.
5:55 am My mom arrives, and we have to call for the nurse because it's been awhile since we have seen her and Becca is in A LOT of pain. Turns out she was in the middle of a "shift change"...really? While we are waiting for her labs that say she can have her epidural?
Pain increases, contractions come faster...
Sherri, Jarrod's mom, arrives and the three of us feel completely helpless watching her struggle...still no nurse...we call again.
6:45 am Sherri texts Jarrod to see where he is and he is walking into the building, thank goodness!
6:50 am Jarrod arrives. Becca, still waiting for her labs and therefore the epidural. No nurse... Jarrod looks up at me with a look I will never forget, complete desperation, "When will they come back in, isn't there anything we can do?" Becca announces she has to push. We call the nurse...FINALLY someone comes!
The nurse decides to check her so my mom, Sherri, and I step out into the hallway leaving most of our items in the room as we assume we will be right back. The 3 of us are GREAT at listening through doors and we hear the nurse tell Becca she is at an 8 or a 9....WHAT!?! I turn to Sherri, "It's too late for an epidural, isn't it!?!" I am frantically texting Matt telling him of the status, receiving many texts for updates, trying to finish emails canceling many of my appointments, ect. Next, we hear the unwrapping of all sorts of equipment, my mom turns to me and says, "Oh my gosh, I think she is going to have that baby right now." We don't go back into the room, I don't get anymore "update texts" sent...
6:55 am The three of us press up against the door...and hear the doctor's voice (we were informed when we arrived at triage that his shift started at 7:00 am). He steps right into the room and starts coaching her to, "PUSH!!!". The three of us are in the hall, crying, 1) because we are about to have a baby! and 2) the obvious pain Becca was in was heartbreaking. The next thing I hear is a nurse say to Becca in a sweet and excited tone of voice, "Look! Open your eyes!" I knew at that moment he was here. We hear them coach her to give one more BIG PUSH and the ooohs and aaaahs start...
7:05 am Ezra Randall Murdaugh made his very early, very fast, very surprising debut.
Ezra Randall born Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 7:05am. 8 pounds 1 ounce, 22 inches longWhat a story...my favorite part is the role I got to play in aiding my little sister. I feel so blessed to have had the experience. I am your typical first born child, so desperate to take care of people and wanting to help and here was the unexpected, yet perfect, opportunity. I am here to tell you she did AMAZING! She is a rockstar! One week later, her and Ezra are doing phenomenal! Big Sister Zeda (also typical first born) is very "helpful" and was very excited to show off her little brother!
Catch Becca's side of the story here.
