Push...!

Nicolle reached Austin before 5am on Friday. We sat in the living room with our shoes on, and waited. Jo contracted. I timed. Cole wrote. Abe slept. When the contractions got to be 4 minutes. apart, Cole and I told Jo that it was time to go. I entered the Brack parking garage at 7:42am. Jo was in a very flimsy gown and on delivery room bed by eight.

Everyone was having a baby that morning. It was almost noon before Dr. Nix could check Jo. By then, she was 5 cm dialated. The unit of dialation, as an aside, is a refreshing breath for those who have experienced the sweet smell of metric. Speaking of sweet smells - during the exam, Jo's water broke. Suddenly, the room was full of all kinds of delivery-oriented paraphernalia and nurses. This was the real thing.

The contractions kept their end of the bargain up. Jo began to consider an epidural. Carrol was consulted on the phone and a decision was made to go ahead and get one now. Within minutes, the anesthesiologist had poked a very big needle into Jo's back. Catheters and IVs were placed. Pain was managed. But alas, a hotspot appeared - the epidural was extra effictive on Jo's left side, but didn't do enough for her right. Another anesthesiologist came in and deftly moved the catheter out of her spine a bit. And hit her with a big slug of anesthetic juice that made both her legs go numb. What contractions?

Stacey showed up with lunch - subs and every concievable flavor of potato chips. We tucked in. Jo ate another ice-chip. Abby, our nurse, checked and found that Jo had hit the 7cm mark. As planned, Abby called Dr. Z (who was catching a few zzz's after having spent the night at the hospital). Dr. Z showed up. At about the same time, Jo's diastolic dropped to 30 and alarms went off. IV bags were switched,