As you may have read here a while back, in November of 1994 Marilyn found out she was pregnant. We spent the next few months preparing for the arrival of Elmo. It was our decision to not learn the gender of the baby before birth, so I gave the unborn child the name Elmo. Some people actually believed that was what I wanted to name the baby, but it was just something to call him/her while we waited. There is so much to do to get ready for a new baby, especially if it is your first. In our case, we had to completely rearrange the house we lived in, turning what had been a den into a nursery. For those who were around FUMC-K at the time, you may remember that is how the sectional couch we all loved so much wound up in my office. The church was very excited about the impending new arrival, and helped us out in so many ways. Michelle Autrey and Leila Lupfer actually painted and wallpapered the nursery. As summer arrived, my former Springfield Friends Meeting youth, Holly Harward, came to live with us for a few months, and she was a huge help in preparing the house. She also did some Winnie the Pooh paintings (that was our theme) for the nursery. Marilyn was doing great (although people keep telling her how HUGE she was!) and everything was coming together nicely.
The week before Marilyn's due date she went to see her doctor, and they decided that this baby was going to be bigger than originally thought. They put her on a special treatment for a week, and then told her to check in to the hospital on Friday, July 14. There they would induce labor. We arrived on Friday morning. Marilyn's Mom and sister Linda had arrived by then, and my Mom was there as well. My Dad drove down from NC, apparently breaking the world land-speed record so as not to miss the birth. As it turned out, he had more than enough time...
They checked her into a room on the wing with all the women they didn't want to go into labor, because she was nowhere near ready to induce. We spent all day Friday doing absolutely nothing, because Elmo seemed to be showing no inclination to make an appearance. On Saturday morning they informed us that she would be given a special new drug that was guaranteed to start labor. Now we would see some action- or so we thought. When nothing happened, another technician came in Saturday afternoon and informed us that this "miracle drug" always started labor, and if it hadn't worked it must have been administered incorrectly. So this time he gave it to Marilyn, and once again we waited. We spent another night with absolutely no movement. We were beginning to question why we were even in a hospital yet. I was sleeping in a recliner for no apparent reason. Frustration levels were rising.
On Sunday morning, Dr. Carducci, Marilyn's doctor, stopped in for a visit. My wife was still not dilated, the baby had not dropped, no water was breaking and I was furious. The stress was getting to us all. I told Carducci in no uncertain terms that I thought it was time to do a C-section. She wanted to wait a few more hours. So we waited. Finally, late Sunday afternoon things began to happen (no thanks to the "miracle drug") and we moved to a birthing room. We had taken Lamaze, and we were ready. It was time for Elmo to join us. But the adventure was just beginning... Don't miss the conclusion to this epic adventure on Friday. Tomorrow is a VERY SPECIAL CCM Thursday slideshow- be here!
Because of Jesus,
It's a good thing we already know this story has a happy ending! Jill
ReplyDelete