The Story Of Everett {Part One}{From the Lost Posts}

Everett was due October 1st, 2009. I was greatly anticipating his arrival, and was – perhaps – the most antsy I’ve ever been with the anticipation of a birth. Olivia had come right on her due date. Cal came a few days early with a scheduled induction. I decided I wanted Everett to come on his own, but also didn’t want to push my luck in the health risks (plus, let’s be honest, I just wanted him here!), so I decided I would wait one extra week. If he didn’t come, then I would schedule an induction for one week past his due date.

On the 7th I went to the Dr’s, and with no signs of going into labor, I scheduled an induction for the following morning. It wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t look like I had any other choice.

That night we were all ready to go. Olivia and Calvin were going to Kellie’s in the morning just until Lois could come get them. I was to call the hospital at 7 am to see if they had room for me (inductions always take second priority to natural labor, go figure). Bags were in the car. At 11:00 I ate my last bowl of cereal (you can’t eat after midnight), kissed Wyatt and went to bed.

At about five thirty or six, after having tossed and turned in bed for a couple hours, I decided to get up and take a hot bath. I just couldn’t get comfortable, but then – I was over 9 months pregnant, so I didn’t think too much about it. I also figured the excitement (like Christmas times 10!) of what was coming was keeping me from sleep. A nice hot bath helped me relax. Then I got up and helped the kids get ready to go to Kellie’s. I called the hospital and they told me to come on in. I remember shuffling the kids down the hall, and I turned to Wyatt and finally admitted – ‘I think I might be in labor anyway. I really hurt.’

Still, there was no sense of urgency, so when we stopped at Kellie’s, Wyatt took the kids and their supplies in, and stopped to chat while I waited in the car. That’s when I really started to hurt. It finally dawned on me that it wasn’t constant pain – it was pain every few minutes. Not sharp, not overwhelming, just achy exhausting sort of pain. I waited for Wyatt . . . and waited, and waited, and waited. He seemed to take an aweful long time. Finally I called him on the phone and told him he needed to come NOW.

I was more curious if this was what labor was like (see, even though this was my third baby, I had never really felt labor pain. With Olivia, my water broke, but I didn’t start contractions until they gave me pitocin – and then I got an epidural; and with Calvin, I was induced, so again, I didn’t have contractions until after I already had an epidural). When we got to the hospital, they checked me in, and came in to start my induction, but first they checked me. I remember Dr. Larsen laughing and saying – ‘No need for an induction, you are well into labor.’ (Ok, I was at a 5, which is only half way, but still . . .)

So instead of inducing labor, they actually had to try and slow it down. I was Strep B positive and needed at least 4 hours of antibiotics before he was born. Once that 4 hour mark hit, they said I could start pushing, and Everett was born about five minutes later.

So – basically, it came down to a game of Chicken – Everett wasn’t going to be born unless we made him. But once we tried, he wasn’t going to let us have the satisfaction. He was going to do it on his own. Silly, sweet, lovely boy.