My baby is TWELVE!

I feel so old! My baby is turning twelve. It is so hard to believe!

There were two of us at church that were both due on July 17th. As the day came upon us, I got a call from our prayer chain that she had her baby. As I was sitting there, hot, tired, and nine months pregnant, I couldn't help but wish that it was me that had already delivered.

The 18th came and still no baby. I decided to take the girls out for a walk around town, as I knew that once the baby came my time with them would be limited. So I got Lauren (who had just turned three the week before) and Olivia (22 months) ready to go outside. I sat down to put on my sandals and I couldn't buckle them.....I sat and cried! I am sure I said something like "This baby is never coming out!!"

Once Kurt buckled my shoes, the girls and I set out for a walk. As were were walking, I talked to them about my big belly, and I asked Olivia "Do you know what is in mommy's belly?" She thought for a minute, and then she patted my belly and she said "Ummmm.....Bunnies?" Lauren and I giggled and told her no! We told her that a tiny baby was in there and that it would be coming out very soon. I also told them that they would be staying with G&G Gault while Daddy and I went to the hospital to get the baby out. Liv was a little concerned (she likes to be at home, and she loves her mama!) and Lauren was pretty excited.

That night was was so big, and miserable that I could hardly sleep. At about 6:30 I woke up with a few contractions. I decided to take a warm bath to ease the pain, and to help me relax. I took a long bath, and at about 7:30, the pain was more frequent, so I woke up Kurt, and I called my parents to come over to get the girls.

We got to the hospital at about 9:00am and I went straight to my MIL's room. She had an operation two days before, and she was still in the hospital recovering, so I went into her room to tell her that it was time for the baby!

We got settled in the room, and hooked up to a monitor. At about noon, the pain was really intense. I asked for an intrathecal, (I had one with Olivia and I loved it! I hated the epidural that I had with Lauren) but I was told that it was too late. ARRRGGGHHH! I wanted some pain medicine of some sort!! The Dr told me that the baby would be here soon, and so I would be having it all natural. That sounded painful!

At around 2:00 I asked for pain meds again, and again I was denied. I was told that it was too late and being that this was my third baby, that he/she should be here very soon. At this point I was about 9cm dilated. At some point I remember grabbing Kurt by the shirt and ordering him to go to walmart and getting me some Tylenol! He, of course, didn't do it, but I was desperate for some pain relief!

At around 2:30, I was 10cm and I was allowed to push! I was so happy! I knew that I had pushed for an hour with each of my girls, so I knew the end was near! I was also hoping that since this was my third baby, that it would go a little quicker. ;) I starting pushing with every contraction. After an hour....no baby. After two hours.....no baby. After three hours......you got it......no baby. At the four hour mark, I was convinced that the baby was never coming out. I asked for a scalpel, so that I could cut that darn baby out myself!!! The hospital has a four hour time limit on pushing before they do a c-section. So the Dr went out to get a consult from another Dr. They both thought that since I had to healthy births in the last three years, that I could continue to push as long as the baby was not in distress.

At this point that was not good news to me. I wanted that baby out. Pushing for four hours with no pain medicine is not fun, and very exhausting. So at 6:30 after 11 hours of labor, and four hours of pushing every two minutes, I continued to push. I was completely exhausted and ready to give up. I can remember chanting "I can't do it anymore, I can't do it anymore!"

I pushed and pushed and pushed. Finally at 6:59pm, on July 19th, 1996, the baby was out! Once the baby's head and shoulders came out the Dr said (to me) "Thatta girl!" But to Kurt and I we heard "That's a girl!" So for about 20-30 seconds we both thought that we had been blessed with another girl. At this point the Dr had plopped the baby on my lap on a big blue blanket. I looked at Kurt, and he looked at me......'What is it?' was what we said at about the same time! He looked at the baby and moved the blanket and he said "BOY!" I thought he was going to faint! He grabbed the bed and fell to his knees. He was so glad that the baby was here, and he was so happy that it was a boy!

Adam Alexander weighed in at 8lb 4oz and 21 inches long. He weighed the same as Lauren, but was two inches longer! The reason that the birth was so difficult was because, like the girls, he came out 'sunny-side up' and his head measured in at 15½ inches!! The girl's head measurements were in the 13½ range! The dr came in and saw the measurement and he said that the nurse had to have measured wrong, so he got the tape measure and double checked....sure enough, it was right! At this point the Dr said that they should have probably done a c-section! Duh!

Adam has always been very active and very curious. He could climb on the furniture before he could walk, and was always falling off and bumping his melon! It seems like he had a bruise on his forehead for a year!

He started putting together 100 piece puzzles at age 4 and he started reading at 4½ . He is an excellent student and he has never gotten a B in all his years in school. We are very proud of Adam! It seems like that big head he has is full of brains!

Love you Adam!
TTFN! Mommy/Martha

Adam at age 9:
Age nine, at the beach:Age 11½ with our dog Lucky.Last week in FL, age 12. He's so handsome! *grin*