Quincy's Birth Story, Part I

       Pregnancy number two was certainly a different experience then the first time around. We became pregnant in the midst of a crazy year, Jon was in school full time and balancing a new job, we were busy chasing a toddler, and attempting to buy a home. This time around there was no time for exercising, we opted to keep the gender a mystery, didn't attempt to put together a nursery, couldn't settle on a name, forgot to take many pics of the belly and my nesting instinct didn't kick in until a month before I was due. I guess I should have known from the difference in the pregnancy that the labor would be equally as different.

First Trimester

       We were originally given a due date of January 27th. After a later ultrasound they updated our due date to be January 30th. As our pregnancy progressed, we were very blessed to learn that we were carrying a healthy baby but also discovered that the timing of our due date was a bit Crazy with a capital C. As Jon worked his way through his paramedic program, we learned more about his finishing dates and discovered that he would be finishing his coursework right around January 16th. Well, that sounded good to us. It gave us a teeny cushion of time in case the baby came early (a la Nolan, who was ten days early). As the baby's impending arrival grew closer, we learned of several more important dates, circling right around D day- Paramedic skills testing dates, Paramedic National Registry testing dates, Paramedic graduation, not to mention the regular fire department schedule and shifts that Jon would be working. To say I had a little bit of timing anxiety would be an understatement.
       Perhaps I should add one little side note. In early October, after searching and searching, Jon and I found a house to purchase that met lots of our needs and wants. Our offer on the home was accepted October 12th, and the waiting game then began. Being a short sale, we were expecting a wait of 3-4 months before hopefully closing on the property. Just before Christmas, after waiting in escrow for 2 months, we got some unexpected news on the house. A pipe had burst in the unheated vacant house, flooding the kitchen and sitting unnoticed for gosh-knows-how-long.When we want to inspect the home, it was a sight for sore eyes.

Oh that? That's just a hole in the kitchen ceiling. 

When Jon reached up to touch it, the drywall crumbled in his hand.

It's hard to tell below, but all of the cabinetry had warped due to the water.

No big deal. 

Just one of the main structural beams in the house damaged and cracked by water.

All of the sudden, it looked like we wouldn't be moving into a new home before the baby arrived.

       With this pregnancy, I certainly wasn't in the shape I was in while carrying Nolan. I gained a few more pounds, was experiencing more aches and pains, and was tossing and turning a lot at night. Maybe my memory was playing tricks on me, but I remember breezing through my first pregnancy. Originally, I planned for Friday January 25th to be my final day of work, but as my body grew bigger I realized that that might be pushing it a bit much, so I opted to end work one week earlier. Glad. I. Did.

38 Weeks and Counting

       On Wednesday January 16th, Jon worked his final paramedic internship shift on an ambulance. It was a day we had been counting down to, and looking forward to for months. No more 4:30am wake up calls, no more 12 hour shifts and long commutes, and no more single mom duties for me. On Friday the 18th, I finished up at work around noon and headed home, where Jon and I promptly took a three hour nap. I was no fool, I wanted to stockpile sleep like it was going out of style. The waiting game had begun.
       The next day Jon was treated to a 19 hour workday. He was still paying back much needed shift trades that he had needed while in school, so the sooner he got them knocked out, the better. He left me his captains cell phone number and his stations number, just in case he didn't pick up my call. We were hoping I wouldn't need to use any of them.  With Jon at work, Nolan and I began what will be six months of stay-at-home time.
       Jon phoned me at about 8pm letting me know that he was on his way home. It was soon there after, that some cramping started. "Noooooooo!" I thought. We weren't ready. There were closets that still needed cleaning. Bags that needed donating. I still needed more sleep. Crap. When Jon walked in the door 45 minutes later, the cramps continued. I had to break the news to him; he who had already been up since 3:30 that morning. His response was calm. Just as with Nolan, he denied that I was going into labor, and asked if I just "needed to use the bathroom." "No Jon, I think I have an idea of labor pain vs. needing to poop." We laid in bed, turned out the lights and I willed for the cramping to go away. Two hours later, with the pain continuing, I contemplated phoning my parents to let them know that labor was starting. We decided to wait a little while longer. A few hours later I woke up to realize that at some point they had subsided and I had fallen asleep. Phew...we had a bit more time.