Dryden Samuel Lee

Now that several days have passed and I can look back at labor and delivery without quite as much horror and dismay, I might actually be able to talk about it! I had my regular doctor's appointment on Tuesday the 22nd, and I was dialated to a 4, but that didn't seem like very good progress considering that I had only moved 1 cm in a week. So, I had the doctor set up a day to be induced just in case the little guy didn't come by my due date. I was scheduled for the 6th and as soon as the day was scheduled I instantly became super worried that I would actually have to be induced. Brent was positive that there was no need to worry, and apparently he was right!

After I went to the doctor, I can by Home Depot to buy a new Washer. It had only been one day without one, but I was already feeling desperate. We had so much laundry that needed to be done. I was down to only 1 pair of pants (which wasn't hard to do since I only had 2 to begin with!) The soonest that they could deliver the Washer was Thursday. . . UGH! Oh well. The rest of Tuesday was just spent doing our regular routine of school work and as much house work as I could--which wasn't a whole lot. I did get the floor under the old washer scrubbed down.

As usual, I didn't sleep very well that night. I was up searching for a baby name and doing other various things until probably 3:30 when I finally went back to bed. At 4:00am my contractions started and by 4:30 my moans had awakened Brent. I had lost all hope that the baby was coming and thought that this was just a false alarm. We have never had a false alarm before, but there is always a first time! At the beginning of the week Brent had said that this was a super busy week for him and that this would be a very bad week to have the baby. Well. . . By 5 Brent had decided that he needed to run to work and get a few things taken care of just in case I did have the baby. Thankfully he gave me a blessing before he left because I was feeling very panicky. I made Brent a lunch thinking that this was going to be an eternally long day.

However, by 6:30 my contractions were only 4 minutes apart so it was time for Brent to come home. We had to keep in mind the traffic as we were considering going to the hospital since it was rush hour. He hurried home and we were getting ready to go to the hospital when it occurred to me that pest control people were supposed to be coming to take care of our ant problem, oh and that we had 4 other kids who had no one to take care of them! I hadn't made any arrangements because my mom would be here in a week, and certainly I wouldn't have the baby before she got here. We woke Allison and Savanna up and told them that they were in charge until we could get someone to come over and stay with them. My contractions were painful enough by now that I couldn't talk or walk or breathe, but I knew that I still wasn't close enough to deliver yet. However, just seeing me like that was enough to worry the girls sufficiently. The poor things were probably traumatized over those 5 minutes of contractions!
So, off we head to the hospital in the middle of the morning rush--all the way down to Baylor in Dallas. That was a long drive, but we made it in pretty good time considering the time of day. Once you get to the labor and delivery area of the hospital it isn't like you just walk in the door and you are there. Oh no! It is the most ridiculous thing. You have to make it down two really long hallways. I'm trying to make it down the hallway, stopping every couple of minutes to double over in pain from the contractions. There are medical people walking all around us, and not one person even stops to make sure that I'm not going to die in the hallway. We finally make it to the check in desk (she has been watching me for a good 5 minutes try to make it down the hallway with little emotional reaction) and there are two sets of people in front of me walking along with their suitcase just as happy as can be. Brent finally calls for a wheel chair because I seriously am ready to pass out. The lady finally checks the two other pregnant but definitely not in labor ladies in. She looks at me and says, "Do you have an appointment?" If ever in my life I wanted to swear at someone it was that moment. All I could manage to sputter was "No, I'm in labor!" Her very cool response was that I needed to go across the hall to triage first. That was very exasperating. Anyway, by that time--around 8 I was at a 7 and absolutely positive that the baby was never going to come. I would just be in labor for the rest of my life. I'm pretty sure that I even told Brent that I was fine being pregnant for the rest of my life that we just needed to go home.

When they got me all hooked up my contractions slowed down to almost 6 minutes apart. Just another reinforcement that I was going to be in labor forever! They finally let me out of bed around 8:45 and things started to pick up instantly. By 9 I was feeling a lot of pressure and they called my doctor. Within 10 minutes my water had broken and 19 minutes after that Dryden made his grand entrance. This labor was probably the worst that I have had, but his delivery was much easier than Camden's was. So, I was thankful for that. Dryden came out face down so all I could see was a mass of black. They put him on the bed right below me, and all I could think was that that thing was so foreign looking that it couldn't possibly be my baby. He looked more like a monkey than anything I had ever seen! I was so expecting a bald or very light haired baby. The whole experience was just full of surprises! He is adorable and we all love him to pieces.