Coconut Cream Pie: Are you guys watching the Olympics?

Today is Baby Tartelette's 17th month birthday! So I thought it would be fitting to tell the story of his birth. Baby Tartelette was originally due on August 4th, my sister's birthday. We knew there would be a chance that he would be late so we didn't really bank on the 4th. In fact, the night before, we went to a party! After the 4th came and went, we made the hospital date for the following Saturday for an induction with a mid-week visit to the doctor for a check up. My boss was nice enough to let me work from home the week before so by this time, I was already bored out of my mind, very very pregnant, hot and had just had enough of daytime tv! I was ready for this kid to come out any time now! The morning of my check up, I woke up, thinking that I was just uncomfortable and I felt waves of discomfort through my abdomen. It wasn't enough to say they were contractions, just more like that uncomfortable feeling. Knowing my body quite well through this pregnancy, I could tell today was no ordinary day! Mr. Pie said that he would stay home and monitor my condition so I plopped myself on the couch and he started timing my discomfort waves. By the time noon rolled around, he had an entire page already but the times were very sporadic. Thankfully, we had the afternoon doctor visit scheduled so we packed up the car with the hospital bags and picked up my Mom. My doctor checked me out, winked at me and said that it seemed very close and that he would probably see me at the hospital that night! We were very excited and decided to walk around the baby store that was close by to get this thing rolling. I think Mr. Pie scared the poor sales people by saying that we were waiting for my water to break! We then stopped by Sister Pie's photography studio which was also nearby to wait out the rush hour traffic (oh and also, OC Fair traffic - fun huh?). Sister Pie just had her studio floors done in hardwood so I was really nervous about my water breaking then! When it seemed like my "contractions" weren't really coming, we then left for home and into the traffic. As soon as we pulled onto the freeway, Mr. Pie lamented that I would probably go into full labor when we got home. Guess what? My contractions were about 10 minutes apart when we pulled into the driveway. We ate dinner quickly, kissed the doggies and left back again for the hospital. By this time, Mr. Pie had 3 pages full of contractions since that morning. We checked into the triage area at 7 pm and they said, even though my contractions were 5 minutes apart by then, they might not fully admit me because my water had not broken yet and they didn't have a room! So I was changed into a hospital gown, given a triage bed and a monitor to track my contractions. After about 15 minutes, I felt a huge wave of pain and then my water broke! Trust me, it's not like the movies. I'll just leave it at that. The next 2-3 hours, I literally turned into the Exorcist. I remembered the birthing class and how they said to only get the epidural when you felt the most pain because it would slow down your progress. By the time I felt like I was going to never ever let Mr. Pie touch me again and after I had asked him to stab me because the pain was so excruciating, I was ready for that epidural. I believe I was at 3-4 cm dialated at that point. However, that epidural wasn't ready for me.

I repeat, that epidural wasn't ready for me! The Anesthesiologist during that time was in a c-section. My nurse fearfully let me know that it wouldn't be another hour until he could come out. I grabbed Mr. Pie and begged him to go get the man. Mr. Pie was scared of me too. My own Mother was scared of me! So after an eternity, he was finally ready to come in. I made Mr. Pie and my Mom leave because I didn't want to feel their nerves on top of mine. So they left to get the rest of the belongings from the car. During this time, Mr. Pie also suggested that they stop in the Chapel. Probably to pray my meanness away :)

The Anesthesiologist came in and was seriously, the nicest doctor ever. He explained to me everything he was doing and what I needed to do. And my job was to bring my knees up to my chin, quite a feat for a very pregnant belly in the way! My nurse was also the nicest - she held my arms the whole time. It took less than a minute and the second he pumped in the medicine, my entire body stopped aching. I asked him to marry me. Mr. Pie and my Mom heard the laughing from the hallway and decided it was ok to re-enter the room! I have to tell you, that was such a great decision for me. I applaud women who decide to go natural but seriously, I wasn't ready to be a hero. I just wanted the pain to stop and to hold my baby!

At this point, it was right around 11 am. Sister Pie and Table4 came in and I was laughing and joking at this time. They had no idea I was Linda Blair, the Exorcist, just about 20 minutes ago!

They brought Starbucks and everyone settled in for the night. Table4 went to go stay with the doggies. Mr. Pie would look at my contraction monitor and it off the charts. We were all getting tired but the epidural did slow me down. Through the course of the night, I was stuck at 8 cm dilated. What they need you to be at before pushing is 10. My doctor was in the hospital and came by a few times to check in. At one point, he, the nurse and Mr. Pie were watching the Olympics with their backs turned to me! It was pretty funny actually. It was almost 5 am that I could start pushing and even then, we were unsure because the nurse said we were just practicing. Mr. Pie had almost fallen back asleep but had to wake up again to help me start pushing. Pushing? Not really fun. At times, I'm pretty sure I was doing it wrong. I mean, when was I suppose to practice? My nurse, as nice as she was, would leave us though at times. It felt kind of strange but everyone did the counting and then I would push. It wasn't painful, just pressure and kind of tiring from the breathing. The baby's heart rate did drop a few times and the nurse explained that if there wasn't progress with his heart rate, the next course of action would be a c-section. I wasn't crazy about that idea but of course, we would do anything at this point to get him out. Thankfully, at about 7 am, with the help of suction, he came out, crying the loudest cry and it was just simply amazing. I was exhausted and had them clean him up before placing him on me. Mr. Pie, my Mom and Sister Pie went over to the other side of the room to take pictures and watch him get cleaned up. I waited for them to come back over with my baby with what seemed like an eternity. Finally he was placed in my arms and I have to say, it was wild, weird and surreal all at once. That unconditional and fighting love you feel for your own child? Pretty indescribable. I know child rearing is not for everyone but at that moment, I knew it was for me. I knew my existence was to be his Mother.

Here's our first family photo!