I don't really think about things that led up to it, but I am really happy they happened even though it made serious changes to my life. It was 21 yrs and approximately 36 hours ago when I took my then girlfriend to the obstetrician for a check up. When the doctor checked her out she was dilated, and he felt it was time to get things moving along. He sent us to the hospital in a little town called Avon Park, FL. At this time in my life I was living with my pregnant girlfriend and her pregnant mom in Okeechobee, FL, but the hospital in Okeechobee didn't offer obstetrics so you had to go to nearby towns to give birth. So, we arrived at the hospital at around 11am on Monday April 1st, yes April Fool's Day, see the irony?
The hospital was very small, and old fashioned. Just one story and not much space for visitors. When we arrived they got us all checked in and started her IV. Once everything was set, they began a pitocin drip to get things moving along for the delivery. At first things seemed to be going great, but when the contractions got really bad she started fighting against them and dilation began shrinking. A few hours in, and after taking a few turns with her mother visiting the in labor patient I stayed for a while in the 'labor' room with her. I guess her mom was wanting to know what was happening, so she went outside and around to the window of the 'labor' room. And since this was an old hospital, the windows were the crank out kind and were open for cool air in the room. It wasn't long and the nurse and I started smelling smoke. The nurse went to the window and told my eventual mother in law that she could not smoke near the open window.
Around 6pm my mother and stepfather showed up to the birth. Along with them was my little sister and roughly 18 other people over the next couple of hours. We got hungry and thirsty during this waiting game and took time to partake of the wonderful array of vending machines. The main machine we dumped most of our coinage into was the coffee machine that dispensed little cups of decent hot chocolate for a quarter a cup.
It ended up getting really late and she was still fighting the contractions so everyone was looking to find a place to sleep. Of course the only waiting area in this hospital was near the entrance and was very small. So a lot of people went and passed out in cars, while some tried to get comfortable in the little chairs in the waiting room. My sister's boyfriend tried to get freaky with her best friend in the parking lot, but otherwise it was an uneventful night. Again the next day dragged on and I think she was getting tired, because the contractions began winning again. And around 5:15pm we got to a crowning, while I was holding one leg and the nurse was holding the other. At this point they put her on a gurney and transported her across the hall to the 'delivery' room. A room from what I saw when they opened the door looked like an OR. I couldn't go in because I never finished lamaze class, so no diploma no delivery.
At 5:38pm on April 2nd Dustin Charles was born into the world. He looked like a football, 8lbs 15oz football. It's amazing how you can love someone so much, that's only been alive a few minutes. Once you have children, you realize exactly how much you will sacrifice for someone other than yourself....
