Kathryn's Birth Story

Tuesday, August 10th
The cramping started at 8pm during dinner with a friend. Not just any friend, but one of the girls that had agreed to be with me at the hospital if Eric didn't make it home in time. I didn't tell her that I was having a different type of cramping - I didn't want to worry her. I had, had a long day at work and Wyatt was cranky and tired. The cramps felt like the ones I'd had the Wednesday before after a similar day. So I went home, got Wyatt to bed and tried to relax. I started timing the cramps at midnight. They were 4-10 minutes apart and 20-30 seconds long. At 2am I decided to go to bed and get some rest just in case I really was in labor.

Wedensday , August 11th
Eric called at 8am to let me know he was in Kuwait and would be home at 3pm on August 12th. I told him I thought I was having contractions, but that they weren't bad enough to keep me awake the night before. I told him I had a feeling the baby would arrive in a few days. I was still contracting, but I had read that I could contract for days and I'd been told by the maternity ward that they needed to be 4 minutes apart for 1 minute long for 2hrs and so bad I couldn't walk or talk through them before I came in.

I dropped Wyatt at childcare at 10am and went and got a pedicure and haircut so that I felt a pretty as possible when Eric arrived. I contracted all the way through both appointments. I left the hair salon at 1:00pm and picked up Wyatt at 1:30pm and finished up my office work at 2pm.

On the way home I called Sandi to see if she was home. Sandi's husband was home on R&R and I knew they were shopping and didn't want to interupt them. I called their house phone and it didn't pick up. Then I called Andrea at work to see when she was getting off. She said 4pm and asked if everything was o.k. I didn't want her to leave work early so I said yes and asked her to stop by on her way home.

I got home at 2:30p and decided to have a shower and drink some water and try to relax. It was a hot day and I thought I may have overdone it by being out in the heat.

At 3pm I called Sandi's home again and she answered. I asked her to come over and help me time the cramps - I thought they might be contractions but they weren't lasting very long.

At 3:30p Sandi arrived. At 4pm Andrea arrived.

At 4:30pm we were on our way to the hospital. My contractions were 2 minutes apart but still only 30 - 45 seconds long.

At 4:50pm we arrived at the hospital and waited for our friend, Colleen, to arrive and collect Wyatt.

At 5:00pm I kissed Wyatt good-bye and Andrea and Sandi wheeled me upstairs in a mad rush. By this time I was in a lot of pain. The nurse checked me and said I was 8cm dialated - almost 9cm. They checked me into a delivery room. I was in shock! I though I was about 4-5cm dialated and was hoping that they'd allow me to stay. I immediately asked for an epidural. However, the Dr had to drive in from another town 30 minutes away.

At 5:54pm Kathryn arrived - before the Anethesiologist! Thank goodness I had a mid-wife who was wonderful at keeping me calm and centered.

At 7pm Sandi and Andrea went home and at 8pm I was up walking around, having a shower in complete shock that I just had a baby! The girls were with me for a few hours and back home in time for dinner with their families. I told them "that's how I roll when I have a baby! The least amount of disruption as possible." :D
8am the next morning I broke the news to Eric - he was in Dallas and called to tell me he was in the USA and would be home around noon. He thought he hadn't heard me right when I told him!

That's the story - how crazy is that?