This was by far, one of the coolest nights of my life! Michelle gave me a gift I will probably never experience again, the gift of watching a new baby be brought into this world. It was a wonderful, amazing night! I was surprised by how emotional I felt watching my sister give birth to her son.
First off, Michelle was amazing! She hardly yelled or screamed at all. It all began by me getting a phone call at 1:00 am, telling me she was in labor and needed a ride to the hospital. That afternoon she had had a doctors appointment and was told she was only dilated to a 2.9. Michelle was frustrated, because she hadn't progressed any during the week. Her doctor stripped her membranes and we were joking around about how that was probably just something to make the women feel better and it probably didn't even really work. Now I can say I have changed my opinion and I am a true believer that it works!
Will was with me (Tyler was at his Dad's) and was all too excited to go sleepover at Bella's house. So after I dropped off Will and we gave some advice to Bella, we left for the hospital. I think this was the first (and most likely last) time that Michelle has ever told me to drive faster :) I was trying to drive good and not get her sick, like I tend to do when she drives with me. So I picked up the pace and even ran a red light on hwy 89 to get her to the hospital fast.
At the hospital, it was after hours so we had to get beeped in. I had to make a couple of trips from the car to the hospital. One trip was to get the wheelchair and one to get Michelle. It was kinda funny when I had Michelle in the wheelchair and went to get beeped in again and the lady asked what we wanted. Before I could respond, Michelle decided to respond for me and said "I want an epidural now."
Once I got Michelle settled and after I went back to get my car parked, I was shocked to be told that she was already dilated to a 9! She had gone from a 2.9 that afternoon to a 9, with only a little over an hour of contractions! The doctor gave her a choice. She could either have the baby right then, or put it off to get drugs. My sister said she wanted the drugs and the baby could wait! I called my parents again, only to find out that they were only on Legacy. I told Mom to tell Dad to step on it or she would miss the baby being born.
It took two tries for the drugs to work. Michelle was fun to listen to when she was telling them that the drugs didn't work the first time. It was almost like the doctor didn't believe her. All he had to do was look at her or listen to her tell him off and he should have been able to tell that it didn't work. I am not a doctor and even I could tell she was still in pain. A couple min's after he tried again, you could visible see the difference and you could also verbally hear a difference. Michelle started joking around, even though she acted a little out of it :)
Once Mom arrived, they let Michelle push the baby out. She only had to push 3 times and out he came. I stayed near Michelle's head and the doctor did a great job keeping her covered up. It was the most amazing thing to see Chris come out!!
He was all purple and not moving, so Michelle and I thought he was dead. The doctor didn't seem concerned, she would tickle his tummy and he would cry for a second then relax. I had no idea they came out so purple! It sure didn't take long though for him to change to a healthier color.
There are a lot of cool pictures I could post, but Michelle might kill me if I tried. Notice in this picture his umbilical cord. I got to cut it :) I was so excited when Michelle asked if I wanted to cut it! The doctor was really nice and even let Michelle and me touch it to see what it felt like. She showed us the veins in it and showed us the placenta! The doctor was really cool and funny. She didn't seem annoyed by all my questions and seemed to enjoy talking about it.
I left the hospital around 4 am. I still had to work that day and I decided not to bother to take a nap, seeing how it would only make me more tired. So I picked up Will and went straight to work. Bill picked up Will from work, which worked out well, because I spent a lot of time at the hospital with Michelle that afternoon and the next day and it was nice not having to worry about my boys and try to be with Michelle at the same time.
I had a great couple of days with Michelle. I took a ton of pictures for her and just enjoyed the moment with her. I brought her two oldest kids up to see her at the hospital. Taylor was so sweet, he really missed his Mom. He curled right up to her and wanted to know why she couldn't come home that same day. The next day I had the honor of driving Michelle and the baby home. Michelle had her knees jammed into my dashboard with the car seat behind her, but it was fun for me!
Michelle, thank you for that wonderful experience! I will never forget it. I love you and think you are a wonderful Mom! Your children are very lucky to have you. I know you have a rough road ahead of you for now, but I will be by your side every single step of the way.
