Buckingham #6 was due June 9. Before #6 came, I had a few things I wanted to happen. First, I wanted to cash in on my Christmas present to see The Lion King. #6 was so sweet to let me experience such an amazing show! Second, if I had my druthers, I really hoped to have school out of the way. The last day of school was June 2. We ended it with our annual water gun fight at the bus stop...still pregnant. Check! Thank you, #6 for being patient! At that point, I was still feeling good, so any time was fine with me.
June 6 I woke up around 2 with contractions. Not close enough to go to the hospital, but strong enough I couldn't sleep. I moved around to the recliner and such, but figured we'd be in the hospital later that day. Around 5 they stopped all together. After getting so excited, I was so disappointed! Bitter, really. Off to swim team practice, Target, the regular activities of the day. Bummer. I had a few contractions during the day, but an hour or so between them. I had given up on June 6. Too bad. D Day would've been a cool day for a birthday. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next morning, and they let me bump it up earlier, so I had decided to go ahead and induce the next morning. I called Mom and made plans to bring the kids to her after swim practice in the evening. Around 3:30, I guess, I started having regular contractions that were still several minutes apart, but fairly strong. I told Buck I thought I needed him to come home and help pack the kids up. Shortly after that I decided maybe we should have Mom go ahead and pick the kids up. They were getting closer. By 6:00 we were on our way to the hospital. All of a sudden contractions were about 5 minutes apart. When we got there they were 2 or 3 minutes apart, and strong. We rode up in the elevator with a couple that I assume was on a hospital tour. I cried (loudly) through a contraction, then apologized...surely it was a little discomforting to them. We got to the intake desk upstairs. The receptionist said there wasn't a room ready. Could we please wait in the waiting room? Another contraction (they were only a minute apart...or pretty much nonstop by now), and I said emphatically, "No. This is #6 and it's coming now! Wait...my water just broke...or maybe I peed...nope, that was my water breaking." She called nurses, who came very quickly, and pushed me into the nearest room. As we entered the room, I said, "Here it comes!" They literally pushed me on the bed with my dress still on and before I knew it, "It's a boy!" They recorded that we checked in and my water broke at 6:32 and he was born at 6:36. I'm a slow processor. That along with no epidural (I learned I don't handle pain well) and all of the commotion, Charlie was laid on top of me immediately, and immediately started eating, but I don't feel like we really met until a few hours later. Whew! What a whirlwind of a meeting! He was born on D Day after all. A lot of it was a blur. When things finally calmed down a bit and I got a little more comfortable, the nurse sat me up to use the restroom (a requirement before patients can be moved to the mom and baby room). As I sat on the edge of the bed after all of that pain and chaos, my gaze inadvertently drifted out the window and I saw, quite possibly, the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. It was absolutely unbelievable. It somehow brought me out of the chaos into the calm of God's sovereignty and the beauty of His steadiness.
We moved to our room for the stay. When we settled in and I had some food, I was feeling kind of shaky and weak, Buck went to get some food for himself. When he came back to the room, he said, "So, I was driving to Burger King and had a Burger King epiphany (he was listening to something about D Day). Do you still like the name Charlie? (We had discussed Charlie, but couldn't think of a middle name). You know today is D Day, and Dwight D Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander (at this point I cringed because I thought he was going to suggest Dwight)? Do you know what "D" stands for? David. What do you think of Charles David?" I loved it immediately. I love the sound, I love the story (I feel like if you're never going to use a middle name, it should at least have some meaning). Charles David it is. BUT, we wouldn't tell anyone. Not even the nurses. Not until the kids came to meet him.
That night Charlie slept so well. I didn't sleep hardly at all because I was full of adrenaline. In the morning while Buck was gone to take care of things at home and freshen up, Charlie and I hung out with quiet hymns playing. It was such a peaceful contrast to the evening before. I think that's when we truly met. And I was so absolutely smitten with this sweet boy. 8 lb 6 oz 20 3/4" of pure sweetness.
No comments:
Post a Comment