Carters arrival

Carter Adam Kokoszka

April 9, 2010

4:56pm

Ansbach Klinikum, Ansbach Germany

8lbs 6oz

23.5 inches

I went to my appt on Thursday April 8. I had been having daily blood pressure checks cause I was having issues with my blood pressure. After talking to my doctor, we decided to have me induced on Friday the 9th of April- which was the day before Carters due date. He told me to report to the klinikum at 9 am. I went home and messaged Lee to let him know- his lil man would be with us the next day!

Since Lee was deployed- my mother in law was here for 5 weeks to help with Hais when I went in to have the baby. Kim came to pick me up at 8:15 in the morning and we headed off to the hospital (which is only like 8-10 minutes away). We got to the hospital to discover that I left my mothers pass (the record of all things pregnancy) at home and we had to rush home and grab it. They required it to check into the hospital. We got to the hospital right about 9am.
They got me all checked in and set up in a labor room. Tina came around 9:30ish. We were in the room and having a ball. My midwife was named Barbara. She was FANTASTIC. Tina, Kim and I were being totally silly and Barb hung right with us. She gave me the first "magic pill" at about 11am. We all made bets about what time we thought lil man would arrive. Kim said 3 pm, Tina said 5pm, I said 6pm and Barbara said 11pm. Clearly we were all hoping for anytime but Barbs guess!!!

I was not really having contractions and sitting in the room was getting sort of boring- even though we were having a blast. So, Barb let us go for a walk. We went outside about 2 and walked around. We sat on some benches and chatted for awhile. Then we went back inside and sat in the little cafe in the lobby of the hospital. I had an apple strudel. It dawned on me how much German hospitals are different than American ones. The American hospital would not let me eat at all while being induced and that one lasted 27 hours! Here I was in a German hospital and eating Apple Strudel and ice cream!

Barb made us promise to be back upstairs at 3. So we trucked back up there. When we got up there- Barb gave me another pill since my contractions were barely noticable. She gave me the pill about 3:30. I started messaging with Lee on my phone at about 3:45. At about 4:30 the contractions were getting pretty fierce. I remember telling Lee that I had to go cause they were getting uncomfortable. He said he would go eat dinner since he figured we had awhile.

This is where is gets a little blurry. The contractions started to be pretty bad. They were also pretty close together. We told Barb and she said she would be right back cause she had to check on another patient. She later told us that she thought I still had awhile and she would check in later. Well- in the span of like 10 minutes- it all went to hell!! I could not relax, and the girls told me I was literally bouncing around the room. I do remember kneeling on the bed, on the recliner, standing at the end of the bed, against the bedside table...

Kim was running out into the hall looking for anyone! She finally got Barb and in they came. By this point I was in full on panic mode! She checked me and I was 8. I had decided against an epidural and at this point was pretty sure I had made a really bad choice!! lol Barb broke my water and it all started! There was no time to move me into a delivery room, I was having the baby right there on a regular bed.

It happened fast. I remember telling Kim I was going to die! I remember telling Tina to shut off the iPod function on the iPhone cause I couldnt listen to music anymore. I remember seeing T with her back to me furiously trying to shut it off! lol I also remember feeling like I could not breathe and needed air. I told Tina to open the window- she did and a rush of cold air came in. Barb told her to shut the window cause it was too cold for the baby! Poor T! I also remember telling Kim to stop cheerleading! lol It happened so fast. We started pushing at 4:45 and lil man was there at 4:56 (T was only 4 minutes off her guess of C's arrival!!!)

I remember after having him- looking at him and he wasn't crying! I kept saying to Kim- he isn't crying friend- he isn't crying... it ws a horrible feeling. He finally cried. They wrapped him up and took him away to clean up etc. I am not sure of his APGAR etc. I also did not get to see him weighed and cleaned- which stinks. I had the two most amazing women there though who went with my son to ensure that someone was with him and taking those important pictures. He wasn't alone. I also had T at this point, message Lee with the "you have a son now" message. I felt bad for him. He hated that he had no clue that it happened.

They brought lil man back to me to hold for a few minutes before they took him to be under the heating lamp to warm him up. I held him and loved on him for a minute but honestly- I was so tired and worn out from the delivery that I had to pass him off to T. They took him to the warmer for 2 hours. The delivery had been a lot of stress on him cause it happened SOOO fast.

The girls headed home finally- Kim went to our house to pick up Lillianna who was with Hais and Pat for the day. She also shared pictures with Pat. I called my mom, sis and bestie Ande to tell them the good news. We sent pics to Lee through email. It was an amazing day. An amazing day that gave me an amazing son. We spent Friday and Saturday night in the hospital. The day I brought lil man home, there was snow- rain- and sunshine. It was perfect!