Will's Birth

July 30, 2008

7:08 AM - My water broke. Poor Stanley had only gotten 2 hours of sleep b/c he works 3rd shift. He was very confused as to why I had wet myself and soon realized what was happening.

7:15 - Stanley called my mom while I called the doctor. I had an appointment at 9 AM but she said to go ahead and come on in to the hospital. We rushed around trying to remember last minute things and I couldn't find matching shoes so I grabbed the first flip flops I could - one red and one white. We knew it would probably be a long day so we stopped at Burger King for breakfast for Stanley. I decided not to get anything because on our first alarm to the hospital I ate quickly and it ended up coming back up.

8:15 - We arrived at the hospital where the receptionist gave him trouble for eating burger king in front of me. They also all loved the fact that I was wearing one red flip flop and one white flip flop.

8:45 - The doctor checked me and I had not changed in a week - I was still 1 CM dialated and 25% effaced. I was disappointed but glad my water broke - I would have been more disappointed at my appointment later that morning.

9:20 - Stanley's dad, Melvin, came to the hospital to visit.

9:40 - They started pitocin in hopes to get labor going. I talked to my mom and she had the dogs in the kennel and was now leaving St. Louis. She asked me to tell Will to wait for his granda to make it to his birth.

12:15 - Janna and Mackenzie arrived at the hospital. Stanley went home to take care of the animals. In our hurry to the hospital they had not been fed or taken out. Poor Donald, our one year old lab, had an accident in his crate. He hasn't had an accident in over 9 months. While Stanley was gone us girls watched "What Not To Wear" on TLC.

2:00 - I really began to feel the effects of pitocin. They put "the good stuff" as the nurse called it in my IV so I would feel good and loopy. The doctor checked me and was only dialated 2 CM and 50 % effaced - not much change. The upped the pitocin dosage.

3:15 - Jen and Sam arrived from Bloomington

3:50 - My mom arrived from St. Louis

4:45 - Stanley, Jen, & Sam went to the cafeteria to get some food.

5:15 - Janna and Mackenzie came back and brought Terry with them.

5:45 - I started to get major pains and wanted Stanley badly. I had a break down. Terry said he would go get Stanley. He finally got back from the cafeteria and rubbed my back. He was very apologetic and said he wouldn't leave me again.

7 - I was 3 CM dialated so they decided I could get an epideral.

7:30 - Anestesiologist came in. Stanley asked my mom to stay with me because he didn't want to faint. It worked out well because they raised my bed and I put the inside of my feet on my mom's hips and squeezed whenever I got a contraction. She was the perfect height. My mom said she never knew I had such expressive feet!

8:30 - My cousin Jen was in the waiting room and got the feeling I needed her. She came in the room and woke me up to see if I was okay. Within a few minutes I threw up and luckily I was awake when it happened - it would have been a lot yuckier if she hadn't woken me up. My nurse Suzette got excited and said "You know, a lot of people get naustiated at 7 CM. They would be wonderful!"

9 PM - the doctor checked and I was still at 3 CM. NO CHANGE. The doctor said he would be back in 2 1/2 hours and if no change then we would have to talk about other options. He said it was taking too long for my body to change and Will's heartrate was going down. I began preparing myself for a C-Section. It wasn't ideal but I wanted my baby.

11:15 - The doctor checked again and still no change. Suzette, the nurse, came in the room wearing her hairnet already so I knew it meant C-Section. I was a little disappointed because I had gone through 17 hours of labor but all I cared about was Will getting here healthy. Stanley had been asleep and was woken up to hear that I needed surgery. He got emotional - worried for me and his son. It was hard to stay calm seeing the man I love in tears and worried for us. I knew the doctors knew what they were doing. I asked if he would be born before or after midnight. The anesthesiologist looked at the clock and said it might be able to get done before (his birthday was on the 30th and we had talked earlier about them sharing birthdays)

11:50 PM I was in the OR getting prepped for surgery and Stanley joined me. The doctors all introduced themselves to me and told me what they were doing. They were all very nice and calmed my nerves somewhat.

12:14 AM July 31, 2008 William Thomas Allen was born. He weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. I rememer the first thing I said was "Is he still a boy?" The doctor laughed and said "Oh yes, this is most definitly a little boy with a head full of red hair." All I remember is starting to cry. Stanley got to cut the cord and then I got to meet Will. I talked to him and told him I loved him and he looked right into my eyes!

12:45 My dad and sister Laura arrived from St. Louis. My mom, dad, sister, cousin Jen, and her husband Sam stood for hours and just watched the window while I was in recovery. Stanley got to be with him the whole time! I am so blessed to have the most generous and kind husband ever. We had never discussed it at all but Stanley decided to wait and not hold Will right away. He decided I should be the first one to hold him!

Around 2 AM We all lost track at this point. My family decided to leave once I was in my room and out of recovery. They would be back tomorrow to meet Will - they knew this should be an intimate moment between mother, father, and baby.