It all started at 5:15 in the morning when I decided to call the advice nurse b/c I had been counting contractions for the last hour and they had gotten to 6 minutes apart. I gave all my info and answered some questions...the nurse relayed this info to the doctor and came back telling me to wait to come to the hospital until my contractions were painful enough that I couldn't talk or walk through them...so I hung up. by the time I got back to bed, I had two more contractions (4 minutes apart). I woke Josh up and told him what the doctor said, but then I told him that I think we should go right now anyway b/c if we decided to wait until later, we might get stuck in rush hour traffic. Josh flew out of bed and quickly got ready to leave for the hospital. I wanted to tell him there's no rush, but then I figured the sooner we leave, the less traffic we'd hit. So we were on the road by 5:45. After a quick stop to drop Justin off at Josh's parents' house, we were back on 95 weaving in and out of traffic. I wasn't really in much pain, but the contractions were 3 to 4 minutes apart and lasting almost 2 minutes (which means they were almost back to back). We finally got to the hospital a little before 7:00. We went to the registration desk to check in, and the lady asked us what we were there for. I told her we were there to have a baby...then she asked if there were any signs of labor...and I was about to say something sarcastic when Josh jumped in and said, "Yeah, she's in labor right now!" As the registration lady took her time getting all the paperwork around, the contractions got a little less bearable...I had to lean on the desk during them...but she didn't notice, or if she did, she still didn't speed up. Finally we have all the paperwork filled out and she directs us upstairs where we have to check in again. As I'm sitting there in front of yet another registration desk, the contractions start coming back-to-back. I sign a couple more papers and then they finally take me back to "check my progress." As I'm lying in one of the curtained rooms waiting on a nurse, I get the feeling that I need to push. I told Josh who relayed this information to the nurses outside the room, and they said, "Ok, we'll be in in a couple of minutes." A nurse comes in and checks everything and says, "Yep, you're in labor." Again, I had to stop myself from being sarcastic! They take me to a labor/delivery room (the clock says 7:30 at this point) and tell me the doctor will be in shortly. I tell these more competent nurses that I feel like I have to push and they told me to try to wait. They hooked me up to IV and asked if I'd like an epidural. Josh said, "YES!" (I don't think he liked seeing me in pain:) I asked the nurse how long it would take and she said the IV would have to be in for 10-15 minutes before I could get the epidural and then it would take at least 15 more minutes for the epidural to take effect. So I ask if I even have time to get it, and the doctor steps in and says, "I don't think so." and a few minutes later, Kyle was born!!! It was extremely painful but over with in 20 minutes...I actually preferred this birth over the 15 hours of less painful labor with Justin. The recovery is a lot faster, too.
Kyle Austin Einwechter
August 16th @ 7:51 am
7 lbs. 12 oz.
19 in.
