Well....it's about time I sat down and wrote about our wacky time at Cedar's. Rye Hudson Silver arrived on Oct 24 at 9:35am. 10lbs. 22 inches long. His journey into this world is a wild one.

On the 23, my due date, I was feeling the contractions on and off all day long. I was 2 cm dilated and 90% effaced and had been for 2 weeks. By 5pm or so I decided that it just couldn't be ANOTHER false labor. We called in family to look after Quentin, my 2-year-old, and took a lovely hike in the hills.

It was a brisk evening. The stars were out. The contractions were really coming on - although neither Charles, my husband, nor I were any good at keeping track of them. By 10pm we were ready to go to the hospital. Dr. Katz was on call and said not to worry...one way or another I would be having that baby.

Triage at Cedar's checked me out as soon as we arrived and said that I was only 3 cm and 70% effaced and moved me into labor and delivery. My nurse hooked up the monitors to a transmitter and Charles and I found ourselves walking the halls til about 3am.

Shortly after Charles passed out in our room and I decided to lie down and take a break. At 4am the contractions really started to pick up. Lots of heavy breathing ensued. I considered ordering the epidural and then...nothing. I looked at the monitor and the contractions were becoming more and more erratic. At 5am the resident checked me once again and I was only at 4cm. It was discouraging news. She suggested pitosin and I knew we were once again embarking on that slippery slope...I have discovered that one can never intervene just a little.

Sure enough the pitosin doses kept getting higher. The nurses were having trouble getting a heart beat so they had to insert an internal monitor. Forget getting out of bed now. At 7am Dr. Cousineau came in to check on me. She decided to brake my water to speed things along. By 8am the contractions were coming on pretty strong...still 4 or so minutes apart but painful. I ordered the epidural. Nasty stuff going in but once the drug spreads...total relief.

By 9:15am I was ready to rest. The nurse encouraged Charles and I both to take a nap as we still had "hours to go". A minute or so later I felt the most intense pressure. The pain was unlike anything I have ever experienced. I gripped the bed as hard as I could and was surprised to find myself groaning and intermittently weeping. I felt the baby's head between my legs. I heard frantic calls for a doctor...ANY doctor.

The anesthesiologists were back in the room trying to give me a higher does and my nurse was holding her hand between my legs telling me to "just breathe". With whatever breath I could summon I tried telling her that the baby was already out. After what seemed like an eternity another nurse opened my legs and exclaimed that the baby was coming. Poor Charles looked absolutely terrified. My nurse was literally shaking. Still no doctors on hand. I didn't even get a chance to bear down. 11 minutes after I was told to go to sleep, Rye was out on the bed. The monitor's display told the story. I went from what seemed like an endless series of contractions at 4 minutes apart to 8 contractions in a row - one on top of another with no break - and he was out.

5 minutes later Dr. Cousineau arrived, delivered the placenta out and gave me just one stitch which I'll never understand as it truly felt like I was being split in half. Essentially I went from 4cm to labor in 10 minutes. She kept saying how strong my body was to go through something like that. Yeah Yoga! No one in the room had seen anything like it in their careers. Charles said all the nurses in the hall were talking about Speedy Gonzales in Labor 4.

Rye had low blood sugar - apparently common with big babies - so I didn't get to breast feed right away. Charles took him to the nursery and I was high as a kite on adrenalin and proud as can be of our crazy morning.

We are home now. Supremely happy. Everyone is healthy. My recovery is going beautifully. I am so grateful for both my mental and physical strength this time around. There is such tremendous power in knowing that your body is ready for whatever challenges lay ahead. Many thanks Jessica. Your teachings carried us all through.

Love,
Shawn