One Year Ago Today...

I've been wanting to write this all day and haven't had a minute to myself, so here goes now that it's 11:15 p.m.....

I was at Scott & White at this time 1 year ago. I had just found out that I was 5 cm dilated and was being admitted to the hospital!

Let's go back to the beginning...and since we are talking childbirth here, I am giving fair warning that some things may be TMI!!!

During the wee hours of the morning on April 11, our alarm started going off, and it scared us to death. Dee hurdled over me and my huge belly, grabbed his pistol, and went to investigate. The front door had just popped open, so he turned off the alarm, and we went back to bed. Emily slept through everything, but sometimes I think that it scared Ty.

The next morning, I woke up with a little spotting which was strange since I hadn't had that throughout my pregnancy. I decided to call L&D just to make sure I shouldn't be concerned. She said not to be but to call if I had a certain number of contractions in an hour. I don't remember what that number was, but while I was at work teaching calculus all day, I was having more than that number of contractions. I would call, and they would tell me not to worry because they were not regularly spaced/5 minutes apart contractions. I didn't even tell Dee about these phone calls.

Well, they just kept coming all day...but they were not too uncomfortable and not regular, so I figured I just needed to get off my feet/drink some water. Then, I thought maybe they were regular, but I just wasn't paying attention since I didn't have my watch. I called Dee in his room at this point and asked him if I could borrow his watch. Of course, he FREAKED out! He had the secretary across the hall come check on me, but I told her I was fine, I had talked to the doctor, it was still almost 4 weeks before I was due, I was NOT in labor. I just continued making my students do calculus problems while I sat on my big prego bottom.

By the time school was out, I was feeling better. I had a burst of energy as I picked up Emily from school. I was planning on taking her to church later that night. But when I got home, I just felt awful--really tired and uncomfortable and still having contractions. I talked to my mom, and she encouraged me to get lots of rest, maybe I've just had a rough day, but keep her posted. Dee said he was coming home early from practice, taking Emily to stay with his sister and husband, and we were going to L&D just to check since I had been contracting ALL DAY! I agreed to go only if he would bring me chicken club tacos from Chili's before we left.

Since he had to drive from Killeen to Temple, take a shower, pack Emily's bag, take her to Nolanville, come back to Temple and pick up Chili's, he wasn't home until almost 8:00. We ate our dinner, packed a bag just in case we were there for a while, and left. I talked to my mom again on the way to the hospital, still convinced I wasn't in labor, and she tells me at this time that she never had regular contractions, 1 minute in length and 5 minutes apart. It was at that moment that I realized that Ty may actually be coming almost 4 weeks early!

When we got to the hospital, we were joking around with the nurse that we will probably be sent home. When she checked me, she said "You're not going anywhere--you're 5 cm!" Our jaws dropped. They dropped some more when she informed us that because Ty would be premature, he would most likely be in the NICU for at least a few days, if not, longer. I looked at her and told her that I realize I'm not full term yet, but I would be on Sunday. Would he really need to be in the NICU? She said, "You're not full term on Sunday--you're only 34 weeks, 6 days."

"Oh, no," I replied, "I assure you I am 36 weeks, 4 days." She checked my chart, and sure enough, I was right about my own pregnancy--imagine that! She reassured us at this point that as long as Ty doesn't have any problems, he shouldn't need a NICU stay.

My MIL was in the hospital after having some tests done, so she snuck out of her room at this point to come see us as we were getting settled into our hospital room.

Now, when I originally planned this post, I wanted to stop here at the end of the day of April 11 and finish the story April 12. But since I have had many interruptions, it is now April 12, so I will continue...

After toughing it out for quite a while, I broke down and asked for the epidural. I couldn't help it--Dee's loud breathing was getting on my nerves so bad that I couldn't take it anymore! It was either get drugs or kick him out of the room ;-) The nurses informed me of 2 car accidents and a stabbing that had just arrived in the ER, so the anesthesiologists were busy. Great. Finally, a sweet doctor arrived, but just as soon as she started explaining the procedure, she was paged, said she had to leave, and would come back as soon as she could.

It was during her absence that things started hurting really badly. By the time she got back, I could tell that I was really dilated, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want them to check me and say it was too late for the epidural. If I had only known that Ty would be arriving in less than an hour, I would have toughed it out. I could have handled the pain had I known it wouldn't be long. About 20 minutes later, they checked me and said I was dilated to a 10. My water broke during this check, and that made me go back down a little. But 20-30 minutes later, I could feel a pushing urge despite the epidural (I couldn't feel pain though), so Dee got the nurses, and I pushed for about 15-20 minutes. It was faster and easier than with Emily, no forceps this time either!

Ty Austin Trcka was born at 3:20 a.m. on April 12, 2007. He was a perfectly healthy 7 lb, 11 oz "preemie."

Here is a picture of my 1st baby and me on April 10, and here is a picture of my 2nd baby and me on April 12. I am huge in both pictures, but they are a part of my story nonetheless!





Happy Birthday Baby Boy! Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming early because I did not want to deliver a 10 lb baby!