How to Make a Biscuit: Biscuit's Birthday!

I was so disappointed after our appointment Monday morning, and hadn't been able to sleep, so I went home, closed the blinds, and curled up in to a ball on the couch. I spent all day feeling sorry for myself. That evening when Michael came home I decided to try all sorts of things. I bounced on my exercise ball, ate a bunch of spicy candies, and did other recommended things to break water or stimulate contractions. Suddenly, without warning, it started working. Around 7pm my contractions started back up, fast and furious. I sent Michael upstairs to bed because I was not fun to be around, and the contractions weren't coming regularly. They didn't come regularly for a long time, but at about 1am I couldn't take it anymore. I finally called the labor line and spoke with Dr. Anya. She said to head on in and they would check how far along I was. I crawled up the stairs to get Michael and he spent 20 minutes scraping ice off the car so he could at least see out of the windshield. The roads were covered in ice, snow, and salt, so Michael drove us quickly and carefully to the Rex Women's Center. I cried the whole time, just sure I would be sent back home. When we got there Dr. Anya was busy delivering a baby so our nurse checked me out. I was 5cm and 100% dilated and the baby as at almost zero station! She checked with Dr. Anya and she said to admit me and give me my epidural whenever I wanted it. I was so excited! Yay! We were told we would probably have a baby by dinner time.

We got in to our room and the nurse checked me out and said she couldn't get a good reading because the baby's head had pushed the amniotic sac so far down she was afraid it would burst before I got my epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and tried very hard to place the perfect epidural, but failed...twice. Apparently my nerves aren't in the right place so my left side was getting everything. After 3 needle sticks and lots of meds I finally had a comfortable right side and a completely useless lump of a numb left side. Dr. Anya came in around 9am, completely astonished that my water had not broken yet. She decided to break it for me. Now the shift change. Guess who?! Dr. Gaines, the doctor who told me I wasn't in labor less than 24 hours ago. I love him, don't get me wrong, but I was so excited that I would get to show him that I was, in fact, in labor. Thirty minutes after the water breaking the nurse checked me out, expecting me to be 6 or 7cm along. To her surprise, I was fully dilated and she could see Biscuit's head. It was time to start pushing! Not only would we have a baby by dinner, but we were going to have one by lunch! One hour later, at 10:26am, Charles Denver Chenoweth was lying on my stomach and Michael was cutting the cord.

They got him all cleaned up, but I was still being cleaned up and stitched up. The nurse asked Michael if he wanted to hold him. He turned to me and asked me if it was ok.

Unfortunately, before they were done stitching me up he had to head to the nursery because he was too cold and his shivering was making his blood sugar drop. Michael headed to the nursery with Biscuit and they finished cleaning me up and getting me ready to head to my recovery room. We stopped by the nursery and they let the nurse wheel me in and we talked about his blood sugar and temperature. They would probably have to give him his bath in the nursery, which I would miss. Michael stayed and took lots of pictures, though.