THREE months OVERDUE!

That's right! THREE MONTHS OVERDUE! That is, this blog post is three months overdue. The good news is, my baby was right on time! However, that is a long story. For your sake, I'll give a quick summery of “baby bruders” birth.

One month before the due day I was measuring at 2cm. This wasn't a huge surprise to me because I had being having lots of good contractions for months. However, the doctor was surprised and assumed that I would be having this baby early and most likely soon. I raced home, called my mom and warned her that the baby was coming soon and to be ready. So, my mother began to prepare to come to Arizona to help out with the baby and I FRANTICALLY began to prepare as well! The next week's appt was similar. I was measuring at a 2 1/2 and the topic of being induced was the last thing the doctor wanted to talk about because, once again, he assumed the baby would come on his own. The next weeks appt was the same, except that I was still at a 2 1/2. The doctor still was convinced the baby was on his way so we didn't set up a doctor's appt for the following week, but I told him I wanted to schedule an inducing in-case the baby didn't come. I cannot express the deepness of my desire to have the baby SOON! At this point I honestly felt that I was 3 weeks overdue because I had be expecting the baby “any day!” My house had been deep cleaned 20 times and my “nesting” instinct was raging out-of-control, struggling to find another project to do and something else to clean. The nurse informed the doctor that the inducing schedule was full for that day I wanted to be induced! ERRR! Next time I am scheduling my induction the day I find out I am expecting! Anyway, the moment the nurse left, the doctor said that he would personally go over to the hospital and work something out. He said that I should be hearing from his office within the next couple of days to confirm my induction date. So I went home and waited, and waited, and waited... I called the office a few days later and the receptionist made me leave a message with my doctor's MA. She didn't call back so I called again and left another message. She called back and informed me that the paperwork that needed to be sent to the hospital to schedule an inducing was STILL IN MY FILE!!! She assured me that she would fax it to the hospital and get back to me in the next few days. She said if she didn't call back by Friday, to call her. The day I wanted to get induced was the following MONDAY! The MA also informed me that the doctor was only scheduling inductions on 2 or 3 days that week, Monday, Wednesday, and maybe another day, I don't remember. So, guess what, the MA didn't call me so I waited by the phone all Friday morning and finally called after lunch on Friday. Oh, what do you know! The office closes after lunch on Fridays! Ha! So, at this point I was completely beside myself. I had gone over NINE DAYS with Eva and had faced complications consequently. I was desperately trying to avoid the same experience and it was like I was in a nightmare trying to get anyone to help me! My parents arrived Saturday evening. Sunday after church, we called the Labor and Delivery center at my hospital to see if by some small chance I had been scheduled and someone forgot to call me. NO! I wasn't scheduled Monday or anytime that week :( On Monday morning, I started calling the moment the office was suppose to open. A half and hour later, after calling every few minutes, the answering machine finally stopped and the phone began to ring. I explained to the receptionist that I was 40weeks preggo and that I didn't have an appointment or an induction set up and that I wanted to schedule an appointment with the doctor. Of course, there were no available appointments AT ALL that day, and to my remembrance, she didn't even think she could get me in to the doctor that week. I asked if I could SPEAK to the MA and not her answering machine. She said that wasn't possible. So, I left, yet another, message with the MA. I am still embarrassed but I cried all the way through the message I left her. My husband, hearing me crying, started yelling in the back ground at the MA. When I got off the phone, knowing full well that the MA would never answer my call and that I would forever more be preggo;), my medical-student husband called the office and asked to speak to the office manager. Huh, wouldn't have thought of that. Glad my husband knows what he is doing! Anyway, a short phone call later and what do you know, the hospital could fit me in anytime I wanted to go in that day! The office manager seemed equally astonished at our circumstance and frustrated with the staff. To illustrate my feelings at this time, here is the Facebook post I wrote a few minutes later:

“I love my husband. Called the doctor today and no one was even going to let me in to see him for an APPOINTMENT at 40 weeks preggo. They were suppose to schedule me to get induced but dropped that ball. Anyway, Aaron called after they denied me of even seeing the doctor, and now, magically, they are taking me seriously and I am going in, right now, to be induced. Did I mention I love my husband?”

So, I packed my things and my mom and I headed to the hospital after dropping Eva off at a friends house. I arrived at the hospital at around 10am. This was the week after Aaron's final, Finals Week! However, he had missed one test earlier in the semester due to Crohn's sickness and had a make-up test Monday morning. Aaron arrived at the hospital at 12:30pm. I had just been filling out paper work and eating :) The nurse said that I was still a 2 1/2 (what I had been for weeks).

1pm: I started Oxytocin Drip

1:30pm: I started feeling contractions

2pm: I was given an epidural

2:50pm: I measured at 3 cm

3:20pm: I started getting really nauseated due to the epidural and received a dose of Zofran! Yay!

3:45pm: My doctor broke my water and was dilated to a 5

Around 5pm: I was dilated to a 10, the nurse had me push once and oops! CALL THE DOCTOR!

5:19pm: The doctor arrived and Anders was born after 3 pushes through just 1 contraction!

My labor was less that 4 hours long and I pushed for about a minute and Anders was born! That was the good news. However, the cord was wrapped around his neck twice and it tightened too tight as Anders was coming out. When he was born he was completely blue and received only a 2 or 3 Apgar score! However, we were blessed with a fabulous nursery nurse and she saved the day. Five minutes later Anders scored a 9!

He was 7 lbs, 11 oz. (Same weight as Eva and Mommy when they were born!)

He was 20 inches long.

Anyway, looking back I just feel blessed! Even when all seemed hopeless, everything still had a way of working out perfectly!