Our Christmas began on March 26 at 2am. Mandy woke me up telling me it had began. She was having contractions and wanted to go down to the couch so that we could record their start and end times. I decided I had to stay at Mandys side. The solution was to follow her down to the family room and sleep on the bed that we have there. Unfortunatly for our loving dog, the bed i took was his dogbed! Thankfully for me, hes a small horse and surprisingly, his bed fit me pretty well!
At about 9 am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart, one of the predetermined markers for calling our doctor. She told us to come see her at the office instead of the hospital. While there, she told us we were at the beginning stages and that we would be more comfortable at home until Mandy was unable to walk, talk, or breathe thru the contractions.
Welp, about 8 hours and what seemed like 3 miles of walking around the block later, we finally decided to make our way down to the hospital. the time was 530 pm. It was what i thought was the longest day of my life. Oh how perspectives can change quickly!
When we were in check in, somehow, Mandy was still in prelabor. The look on her face made me second guess them but hey, they are the experts! However, due to a minor fever and high blood pressure, they gave us a room.
By 10 pm we were settled in our birthing room. The estimated time of delivery with the dialation needed and push time, was putting us about 8-10 hours away from holding a baby. Would the day ever end? The epidual went in and the wait was on.
They gave us advice after this telling us to try and sleep. I checked to make sure that Mandy was good and layed down for a nap.
At 1 am, Mandys mom woke me, my eyes flew open wide, and I bounced to Mandys side. With tears in her eyes, she informed me that Elliot's heart rate was dropping with the contractions and the doctor had decided a C-section was the best option. I could see the fright in her eyes. With all the hope I could gather, I did my best to convince her that Elliot was in good hands.
By 115 am I was covered in scrubs with camera in hand. The sheer shock of everything and the quickness of how it progressed really set an edgy tone to the situation. Mandy was scared. I was scared. Everything was hapening all to quick for both of us. I said a prayer while waiting and soon found myself sitting next to the Christmas tree. In what seemed like a minute to me and an hour to Mandy, it was finally time to get our gift.
Please join us in welcoming, Elliot Sears Bartel!
March 27, 2008 1:25 am 7 lbs. 2 oz.
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