What a difference a day makes. That was the thought that I have had every day for the past few weeks. One day we are a family of 3, the next we are a family of four. It still seems so surreal. For the past couple of months I have said that I really have the perfect life. Now it is even better. I am blessed to have two wonderful sons and one perfect husband. For those who have not heard the story of Ethan’s birth, here it is…

Friday, October 3, 2003
I woke up around 1:30 A.M. on Friday with contractions. They were about 20 – 30 minutes apart. I dozed on and off through the night. Being the wonderful wife that I am, I didn’t wake Michael. He was sleeping in wonderful bliss. I thought that at least one of us should have a good night’s sleep. By 6:00 A.M. my contractions were 15 minutes apart. I sent Kyle off to school. He was also unaware of my contractions. This was pretty good on my part because I had a really strong one as he was leaving for school. I didn’t want him to worry while he was at school. I kept thinking that the contractions would probably stop anyway.

After Michael woke up and my contractions didn’t go away, he convinced me to call the doctor. It took some convincing because this was the last day before track break. I wanted to go to school to finish out the week and say goodbye to the kids. Besides I kept thinking of my friend, Felicia. She taught through the morning with her contractions. She left at lunchtime and had the baby a few hours later. If she could do that, so could I.

I called the doctor around 8:00. He told me to go to the hospital right away. So of course I took my time and got a shower and finished packing my bag. We also forgot to take anything for Michael. He grabbed some snacks at the last minute. I guess we were both pretty nervous. This wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow you know! I remember taking a shower and thinking that this was the last time that I would get a peaceful shower for a long time.

When we got to the hospital I though that my contractions had stopped. I couldn’t feel them anymore. I really felt foolish. They hooked me up to the monitor and I didn’t feel any contractions the whole time that they were taking my information. Finally, I had a contraction after being in the hospital after 30 minutes. I felt relieved and told the nurse that I was feeling pretty silly for coming in. She told me that I was actually having contractions every 5 minutes. However, I could only feel the really strong ones. That made me fell much better.

The nurse checked my cervix and I wasn’t dilating at all in spite of my contractions. And let me tell you that there were some pretty impressive contractions. Michael would watch the monitor as they happened. He was so kind to tell me when the contraction was a strong one. I would laugh to myself as he would announce it. Like I couldn’t tell!

After about an hour and my contractions were not stopping, Dr. Jones made the decision to do a caesarean section today instead of waiting until Saturday. We had to wait until 3:00 because I had eaten toast for breakfast. Meanwhile they just monitored my contractions and we waited patiently.

Around 2:30 the nurses prepared Michael and I for the surgery. Michael was so cute in his scrubs. And since they haven’t changed the design of the hospital gowns since the turn of the century, I was also looking fashionable.

I walked to the operating room where I got my spinal block. They made Michael wait outside while they did this. I was surprised at this. They explained to me after he left that many men will become queasy and even pass out during this small part. The nurse brought in Michael and Dr Jones started the operation. Michael and I were both surprised at how relaxed everyone was. Dr. Jones and the anesthesiologist discussed cars, boats and diets. Michael was watching the operation from the reflection in Dr. Jones glasses. I could see some of it in the reflection on the lights above me.

After about 10 minutes, Dr. Jones pulled out Ethan’s head. We knew this because he remarked, “Look at the size of that head!” Michael jumped up and snapped a picture. Next, Dr. Jones pulled out Ethan’s arm and said, “Look at the sized of that hand!” He continued and Ethan was delivered at 3:15 PM. Everyone was surprised at how big he was. Not that he is an overly large baby; they were just surprised because my stomach wasn’t that big. The nurse asked where he was hiding in there. Dr. Jones so kindly posed for a picture of him holding Ethan minutes after his birth.

Dr. DeSimone, Ethan’s pediatrician, took him over to the baby warmer and checked him out. The doctors and nurses were all guessing his weight. Dr. Jones guessed 7lbs., 15 oz. One nurse actually guessed correctly at 8 lbs, 1oz.

When they gave me the spinal block, they also put some narcotic in it for pain relief after the operation. By now, that medication was taking effect. I was starting to feel very relaxed. I remember laying there thinking that everyone has seen my baby except me.

Michael went to the warmer with the baby and continued to take pictures. Ethan’s scores were 9 and 9. They told me that he was perfect and doing wonderfully, but I still hadn’t seen him. When Michael came back to the table, I asked him if I could see the pictures of Ethan. So the first time that I saw him was actually on the back of the camera. Michael continued to float back and forth between me and Ethan.

After a few minutes, I began to feel my chest begin to itch. My anesthesiologist was talking on the phone with someone. I remember Dr. Jones asking him if he gave me the antibiotic. He said he did and ended his conversion. I was laughing to myself thinking here I am paying this guy to take care of me during the surgery and he is taking on his cell phone.

I guess that I was having a reaction to the medication that he gave me because I started to get itchy and my face was turning bright red. The anesthesiologist immediately gave me Benadryl. That slowed the itchy feeling.

Dr. DeSimone brought Ethan over for me to see and explained that she was taking him to the Level 2 Nursery because he was having trouble breathing. Since he didn’t come through the birth canal, not all the fluid was squeezed from his lungs and he was having trouble breathing. I told Michael to stay with Ethan. So they both left.

After they left, the operation continued. I started to shake uncontrollably. It felt really weird. I don’t really know what caused it. They just kept telling me that it was normal. I think it happened because your body temperature drops so low during the procedure. They gave me another medication. I have no idea what it was but boy did it ever make me feel weird. I felt like I was in a tunnel. Everything gets really blurry for me from here on out. I remember Dr. Jones reassuring me that everything is ok and going well. I also remember the one nurse asking why women don’t deliver vaginally after having a caesarian section and Dr. Jones asking her to be quiet.

The procedure ended and they wheeled me back to the recovery room. The medication that they gave me started to wear off and I was much more alert. Michael joined me in the recovery room. He updated me on Ethan’s condition. Just looking at Michael, I could see how happy he was.

I was still shaking so the nurses got me this thing to warm me up. It was like a big blanket that filled with flowing warm air. It felt wonderful. It brought my temperature from 97 degrees to normal in about a half hour. After my temperature returned to normal, I stopped shaking.

Around 6:00, Janie (our neighbor) brought Kyle to the hospital. Kyle was at school then practice and he didn’t know we had the baby until he came home. Janie told him and they came right over.

We stayed in the recovery room for a little while longer, and then they wheeled me to my new room. Ethan was still in the nursery. Michael and Kyle went to visit him often, but since I couldn’t get out of bed yet, I couldn’t go. The boys kept telling me that he was doing fine. Kyle was surprised that Ethan had red hair. They finally brought Ethan to my room at 7:15. It was the first time that I got to hold him. It was love at first sight. I didn’t want to put him down after I got to hold him.

Around 11:00 the nurse came in to get me out of bed. This is when I wished for the days gone by. You know the ones where they let you stay in bed for at least 2 days after the surgery. Not anymore. They want you out of bed 8 hours after the surgery ends. At least the medications were still working. I had to walk a short distance. I was really glad to get back to bed!

It seems like he was born on a feeding schedule. He at well every 3 hours from the time he was born. He ate regularly that first night. We dozed off between feedings. Luckily so did Ethan.