Cathie just wrote to me:

I spoke with Tracy a few hours ago…Jonathan is no better and maybe a bit worse…please continue to pray for him and his family…

Snacks for the road trip: $27.56
Total fuel purchase: $185.39
White Castle sliders: $4.89
Kitty litter stuck in every crevice of your car: priceless
 
So overall the road trip was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing, but there were some “fun” moments. Here are the highlights:
 
Thursday 1:07 am – We say goodbye to the wife and “kids” and we start the journey.

 
Thursday 1:25 am – Macy decides to christen the the trip with all the food she ate earlier that day. I guess the only good thing about her puking in the car was that she did so in the middle of the comforter making for an easy clean up.
 
Thursday 4:50 am – While heading through Kansas, we drive through one of the strongest rainstorms I’d ever been in. Could barely see the road. Note: You only need to check out the first 15 seconds of the video below to get the idea.

 
Thursday 5:30 am – Cornfield
 
Thursday 7:45 am – Cornfield
 
Thursday 8:57 am – Some vegetable field
 
Thursday 9:35 am – Cornfield
 
Thursday 11:00 am – Video Update

 
Thursday 2:50 pm – Drove by the St. Louis Arch
 
Thursday 8:37 pm – Tried to have dinner at Jack’s BBQ in Nashville, but downtown was a bit too crazy.
 
Thursday 9:00 pm – We settled for another Jack’s instead: Jack-in-the-Box
 
Friday 12:30 am – We drive through downtown Atlanta with almost zero traffic.

 
Friday 7:40 am – Dad and I (and the cats) arrive in Gainesville.
 
Thank God for dad. He drove about 60% of the time and it was good to have the company.

and no I’m not talking about the Beastie Boys Album. What I’m referring to is the apartment that we had rented sight unseen. Holy cripes. Tina and I only had a couple days to find a place the last time we were in Gainesville, and the big struggle was finding a furnished unit to rent for short term (90 days) that was close to the hospital.

We thought we had found the best place. There were some condo conversions only 5 minutes from the hospital so we drove over to check them out. The deal was that the units were not selling as quick as they wanted, so they continued to rent some out furnished. We couldn’t see an actual empty unit because the leasing office was closed, but the sales office was open. For this reason we could only walk through the model, which looked fine so we figured it would work. They even offered us a three bedroom for the price of a two bedroom, which made it sound like a sweet deal.

BUT…

After seeing the unit in person I now know why they the couldn’t sell it. The place was totally filthy. Dirty walls that needed to be painted, stained floors with carpet that should have been replaced, cobwebs all over the place, housewares that looked like they came from the early 80’s and hadn’t been cleaned since then. The furniture was gross too with who knows what kinda stains infecting the couch.

Oh…but they did include an empty mens underwear box, a basketball, and my favorite (I’m not kidding either) a vibrating pillow.

As much as the last item made the move-in tempting, I resolved that there was no way I was going to let my wife and my baby girl stay in this place. I called Tina and we decided to board the cats for a few days and stay in a hotel while we figure out where to live.

Maybe we’ll have to search a little farther away, or deal with renting the furniture ourselves. We’ll figure something out though.

This is a sad picture of where the kids are hanging out while I head down to Orlando to drop Dad off at the airport, and stay with the Boemler-Wareings. Tina will be flying in Sunday. I hope all goes well and our little baby girl does not try to come early.

Had a good time hanging out with Doug, Laura, and the kids over the last couple days. Heading out to pick up Tina from the airport soon!

Big fat sigh of relief! Tina flew in to Orlando this afternoon and mommy and baby are doing just fine. We grabbed a quick bite with our friends and then drove up to Gainesville. We’re residing at the Extended-Stay Hotel until we can find a permanent place to unpack. Enjoy the fun pics of my sweaty self getting us unpacked and the beautiful pregnant wife!

So I was feeling bad about leaving the “kids” at the boarding place. I decided to make nice with the guy at the front desk of the hotel and asked if he could work me a deal on letting the cats stay with us. He just said that we never had this conversation. The cats were a little happy. =)

So, we found a place to live…thank goodness! This apartment community accepted cats and short-term leases. The only drawback – – they do not provide furnished units. So, we will have to rent the furniture on our own and set up utilities. But, it is a nice property only 15 minutes from the hospital. Bonus – – it has a nice screened in porch for the cats and an extra bedroom for any visitors that want to come to Florida!

It was about 9pm. At this point, I was starting to feel some pain in my lower abdomen, like menstrual cramps. Since I had not felt any contractions up to this point, I started to think that they were Braxton-Hicks contractions. Before we left for a late dinner to Olive Garden, I researched the so-called “false-labor” pains on the Internet. I wasn’t sure, but at this point, I was experiencing the pain about once every 20 minutes or so. It noted that dehydration could bring on these type of contractions. So, I drank lots and lots of water. The episodes were short and brief, so I just figured that my body was prepping for the big day that was around the corner, about 2 weeks from now.

When we turned the lights off around midnight and tried to relax, the pain was getting greater. The frequency was around every 15 minutes or so, and I was having a tough time sleeping. As the pain would sneak up, I would try and relax and breathe my way through it. Josh was so tired and I was trying my best to not make noise and let him sleep.

In between, I would find myself fading off into sleep but would wake up abruptly with the pain. Since I drank so much water, I would get up and go to the bathroom each time. The rest of the night was a blur…all I know is that I spent most of the night in the bathroom at the Extended Stay America, trying to not wake up Josh and trying to make sense of all of the pain.

For the next 4 hours, the pain intensified. Although I was not real alert, I did begin to note that the pain was getting longer in duration and more frequent. Finally at 4am, I woke up Josh and went outside the bathroom to watch the clock and time how far apart I was experiencing the pain. Keep in mind that I was still unsure about what I was feeling – – were these false labor pains?

What I know for sure: I have a high tolerance for pain – – and I was feeling a lot of pain. By watching the clock, these waves of pain were timing out to once every 3 minutes. Josh watched me experience the pain for one round and although I was not complaining too much, he knew. He shot up out of bed, “Tina, those are not Braxton-Hicks contractions. Those are not supposed to be that painful. We need to go to the hospital – – right now!” Fortunately, it was just 5 minutes down the street…

…we drive up to the Emergency Room and walked-in. Fortunately, the waiting room was empty. Josh explained to the front desk that he thought I was in labor. She sent me through the doors and asked me to sit and wait for a nurse to come get me. As I waited, the pain was continuing to get stronger and stronger. The lady rolls up with a wheel chair. I ask her to wait for a minute…as a contraction passes. Wow, whatever is going on…it is painful!

They wheel me to a bed and the nurse begins to gather all our information verbally and states that she will have a doctor come in to check my cervix. The doctor on staff arrives to examine me. She informs us that I am 9 centimeters dilated and fully effaced. Josh’s jaw drops and with his mouth wide open, he is sitting there in complete shock! Say WHAT@#$%$#@!???

This confirmed three things: first, I was not imagining this pain that I was feeling; second, the emergency staff was now going to take me seriously and third, I was about to give birth to a baby girl! This was such a big surprise for me…wow, was this really happening?

I begin to worry.

Where was my OBGYN? And more importantly, where was Dr. Kays? Did they try and reach him? Was he around? Moments later, Dr. Richards walks in. Phew…there was the doctor that was going to deliver. That part was good.

The pain every couple of minutes was so intense. I was begging for an epidural. I was so far along that I wanted to make sure that I could still have one. Finally, it was 6:00am and the anesthesiologist was getting ready to place the needle in my back when a very strong contraction arrived. I asked her to wait. Simultaneously, I lose my dinner from the night before in a projectile manner out my mouth and my water breaks between my legs. What a strange feeling…

Once the drugs begin to take effect a few moments later, I am a happy woman. It was the first break I had received in hours! This gave me the strength to push on…literally.

Dr. Richards came back to check on me. I was now 10 centimeters and fully dilated and effaced. At this point, he let me know that they were able to reach Dr. Kays and that he was on his way. This made me feel so much better – – that was the entire reason we came to Florida.

Later I found out that it was the first shift back for Dr. Kays after concluding a 2 week vacation. And didn’t I just arrive in Florida less than 48 hours ago? Wow, God was watching over me!

My labor was moving along so rapidly that they wanted to try and slow it down. Dr. Richards wanted the opportunity to get some antibiotics in my system (I had tested positive for Group B Strep virus).

Ideally, you take antibiotics up to 4 hours before you deliver. Between waiting for the antibiotics to get into my system and waiting for Dr. Kays and team, we only had a small window left…this baby wanted out!

At 6:30am, they moved me to a surgical room where I would deliver. This room would provide the space and equipment necessary for Dr. Kays and his team to work on our baby girl once she was born.

The clock was ticking and we were just waiting for everyone to line up and be ready. Once the signal was given, I was asked to push. All it took was a few times…