It was a Saturday morning in July. I had gone to the doctor the day before and found out that I was a 3 and 50%. I was excited because I was making progress. Towards the end, I always feel like nothing is happening even though I get pretty good contractions, but really, I think I'm going to pregnant for-ev-er! Paul was doing backyard stuff. I was cleaning up the kitchen and boiling some water to kill these horrible ants we had in the backyard. Esme, dear sweet Esme was climbing and getting into all sorts of trouble. I had taken her off the counter a few times and put her in the playroom. I had taken the boiling water off the burner, and it had been sitting for quite a few minutes. I was moving it to the backyard. Ewan opened the door for me, and was going to close it behind me to keep Esme in the house. I set the water down for a second to call Paul for some help because it was kind of heavy and I needed help pouring it. I turned around to see Esme (slow motion moment) stick her hand in the pot. I grabbed it as she was sticking it in, ran inside screaming for Paul, ran her hand under cold water. Paul came in and instructed me to get in the shower with her while he figured out what to do. I jumped in, clothes and all. She was screaming. It was awful! We went to Urgent Care because we are 45 minutes from a hospital. So, they sent me to UMC. Paul dropped the kids off at a friend's house and followed me up with a diaper bag and changed of clothes. After talking to 4 residents, 2 interns, a host of nurses, and 2 attendings, going through 6 blown veins, they finally listened to me and let me hold her while they did a debridment to see what the damage was, 6 hours after we arrived. Long story short (because, seriously, a ton of other stuff was happening), they admitted her to hospital over night for observation and a dressing change. Then released us and had an appointment set up so we could get with the burn unit the next day. Then we found out that the burn unit wasn't open the next day, it was open the following day after driving all the way into Tucson. Instead, we went to our pediatrician who bandaged her much better than the trauma people, made an appointment with the head of the burn unit at UMC, and gave us better wound care and pain management instructions. I also had an ultrasound that day. It was crazy! After seeing the other doctor, Esme got admitted again for another night so they could sedate her for a second debridment and bandage change. During this time, I am having crazy contractions, I can't leave her room, but they wouldn't bring me a meal voucher. It was a bit of a mess, until the nurse told me order all the food I could handle as Esme. He was very nice, and could see that things weren't being handled very well. The following day, we were released with all the stuff we need to take care of a very bad 2nd degree burn, and a follow-up appointment in a week. Everyday, I bandaged her hand, cleaned her hand, and tried to keep her as comfortable as I could. Esi was a trooper! By the second day, she stopped fighting me while I bandaged her, and would stick her hand out with her fingers spread so I could get in between her fingers with the magic burn stuff. She did great! We went in for the appointment with our favorite resident and the head burn guy. They said that with the severity of the burn, they usually have to do skin grafts, and many follow-up treatments. But, we were told to apply sunscreen when she's out playing, keep it moist, keep her moving her fingers, and that we never have to see them again! Wahoo! Tender Mercy. That same day, I went in for another appointment with my OB. My parents were at Lake Powell, and my mother would leave when I needed her to. I was still the same, but had lost a few pounds and he was little concerned. He scheduled an appointment the following week to check things again. He was going to strip my membranes. So, the next week, I went in. I was 80% and still a 3, but I had lost more weight. He didn't want me delivering that weekend because he was going out of town, but he wanted to get her here soon. He scheduled an induction on Tuesday morning. It worked out well so my mom could get home from Lake Powell, and then fly to Tucson Monday night. Our weekend went just fine. I was having a lot of contractions and there were a few times we thought of going in. Every night, I'd have contractions 2-3 mins apart until 1:30, and then all day they were 10 minutes apart. Long labors are so much...! I picked my mom up at the airport Monday evening. Paul and I packed our bags for the next morning and ran through our plan. School was starting Thursday, and I wanted to be home for the first day of school. Paul also had a lot of work meetings that week, and the following week preparing for a big meeting. Life was not slowing down, and with a new baby coming, it seemed like it was going to get a little crazier. Also, my younger brother Court was leaving for Poland in a few weeks, and was having his meeting on the 12th. Anyway, we got to the hospital, got checked in, and hooked up. I was planning on an un-medicated delivery. I don't like being hooked up to stuff, and in the past, the epidural hasn't worked very well. Dr. Decker came in around 7:30am, checked me, I was at a 4 and 100% so we got the party started. He broke my water around 9, and then gave me some pitocin. I think the nurse gave me a little too much, or breaking my water was all that was needed! I rocked on the ball for 45 mins while Paul read to me. They checked again, and I was at a 5. So I did some more rocking, and 45 minutes later I was in a lot of pain. They put me in the bed to check again. I was having such bad contractions and feeling them in my back that I couldn't quite lie down. I held Paul's hand so hard during one of them that he lost feeling in his pinky! It was kind of intense. They were coming on top of each other and were almost 3 minutes long. The nurses were surprised at how long they were. When they were finally able to check, I was ready to go. They called Dr. Decker to come (his office is right across the street), and told me not to push but to breathe! That breathing thing is hard when you're oh so ready to push. I kept holding Paul's hand and the handles on the bed. Dr. Decker arrived. They got everything ready, and then all of a sudden I closed my eyes, pushed for what seemed like a long time, let out a scream (just one), and she was there. It was pretty intense. Paul even thought so. She came so fast! They didn't even clean her up, just laid her on my chest while I kept thinking "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! That just happened!" The nurses took her to clean her up and weigh her. She was 6lbs 1oz and 18.5 inches long with light hair similar to Ewan's. It took us a little while to settle on a name, but we chose Adelaide Hannah. Hannah Eccles is my grandpa Crimin's mother. We are so grateful everything went well, and mother and baby were healthy.
