When Did My Baby Grow Up?

Connor turns 6-years-old today! Holy cow! It seems like just yesterday that he was this tiny little 5 lb. 15 oz. little baby! Where has the time gone?

The story of Connor's birth is probably the most exciting out of all 3 of my kids. Not many people can say they were on TV while in labor...but I can thanks to Connor! Here's the story...

October 28, 2002 was a fairly normal day in Lake Charles, Louisiana. But, I ended up going into work a little early because a strong cold front was moving in & severe weather was a definite possibility. As soon as I got into work at 1:00 pm, the warnings started sounding. The National Weather Service was sending out Severe Thunderstorm Warnings & Tornado Warnings like crazy as multiple supercell lines moved into SW Louisiana. Because our station was technically-challenged (okay, I'll just say it...because our station was pretty freakin' ghetto), I had to run each warning up a flight of stairs (in heels, mind you) to Master Control, so they could scroll the warning across the bottom of the TV screen. I did this for about 3 hours straight...I must have run up and down those stairs at least 25 times.

At about 4:00 pm, I started having contractions. Nothing unusual...I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for the previous two months anyway. My doctor thought that the reason I had been having so many Braxton-Hicks was because I would let myself get dehydrated, so I started drinking water. But, the contractions just wouldn't go away. I started getting ready for our 5:00 show. At about 4:55, my co-anchor, Agnes DeRouen, came up on the set. I told her that I was having contractions and they wouldn't stop. I was pretty mad at my uterus at this point. Agnes said, "Did you ever think you might actually be in labor?" No...there was no way I could be in labor! My due date wasn't for another 11 days...there was NO WAY I could be in labor. She told me...or rather, ordered me, to call my doctor's office. I told her that there was no time...the show was starting in less than 2 minutes and, therefore, there wasn't time to call and wait on hold FOREVER to talk to a nurse. Agnes then said, "Well, at least call Mike & have him call the doctor". I didn't even want to do that...the contractions weren't even all that bad, so I really didn't think I was in labor. I didn't want to go to the hospital & be "one of those girls" that thinks she's in labor when she really isn't. Agnes basically shoved the phone up to my face & demanded to know Mike's number. In summary, she won. I called Mike & told him to call the doctor. He said that he would & that he would meet me at the station after the 5:00 show to tell me what he said.

At this point, the show started, during a reporter package, Agnes demanded that I start timing my contractions. This is silly, I thought...but I did it. Much to my surprise, they were surprisingly regular at about 4 minutes apart. At about 5:15, as we were in the commercial break right before my weathercast, I had a pretty good contraction. Awesome, I thought..Now, I've got 4 minutes before my next contraction...my weathercast is only 3 minutes long...so I should be able to get through it just fine, right? WRONG!!! About halfway through my weathercast, I had a HORRIBLE contraction...the worst one yet! Everyone said that my face went ghostly white. I didn't know what to do...I had never been in labor while on air before! :) I decided to just push through it...I kept talking about the forecast, but I backed out of the shot & doubled over because of the pain. Everyone in the studio just stood there staring at me...no one knew what to do. Luckily, the contraction only lasted for about 20 seconds or so, so once it was over, I walked back on screen and finished the weathercast. About 10 minutes later, the show ended and Mike showed up. He said that the doctor thought we should go to the hospital...just to be safe. I was seriously so annoyed! I didn't want to go to the hospital (remember, I truly didn't think I was in labor). Mike (and all my co-workers) insisted I go. I finally gave in & went. As I walked out the door, I told everyone I would be back in time to do the 9:00 show. They all laughed & said they would call in my back-up "just in case".

So, we were off to the hospital. Mike was seriously driving like a mad man! Now, if you know Mike, you know that he ALWAYS drives like a mad man...but it was especially bad this night. Then, as we got to the turnoff to head to the hospital, we ran into a big "Road Closed" sign. I told Mike to just backtrack and go around a different way, but he would have NONE OF THAT! He went right around the Road Closed sign and barrelled through the construction zone! I have never screamed so loud...I was seriously freaked out! Luckily, we made it to the hospital alive & were quickly admitted to a room. A nurse came to check on me to see if I was really in labor. I told her that I probably wasn't & that everyone had FORCED me to come. She laughed and then told me that I really WAS in labor & dilated to a 3. OH MY GOSH! I really WAS in labor! Thoughts started swirling in my head...I hadn't packed a bag...my house was a complete disaster...I hadn't washed any of the baby's clothes yet...my mom would most likely move her flight up and come out to Louisiana tomorrow...she would see my disaster of a house...what would she think of me...etc. I was so stressed out that I SENT MIKE HOME to pack me a bag & clean the house. Crazy, I know...but the contractions weren't all that bad, so I thought I could handle it by myself. WRONG again! About 10 minutes after he left, the contractions started coming faster and harder. I had NEVER felt such pain in all my life! But, I was determined not to be a wussy girl...I wasn't going to cry; I wasn't going to scream; and I CERTAINLY was not going to call my nurse! When Mike got back about a hour later, I was in so much pain! I couldn't handle it anymore &, as soon as I saw him walk in the room, I started bawling! He ran and got the nurse. She came and checked me again...thinking I'd be a 5 or so. Nope...I was a 7 she said. She asked if I wanted an epidural & I said something to the effect of "Hell yes"...I can't exactly remember. :) She came back a few minutes later and said that the hospital anesthesiologist was in an emergency C-section and it would be a few minutes before he could get to me. By "a few minutes" she apparently meant 30 minutes! I was dilated to my magic number of 8 by the time I got the epidural (for those of you that don't know...I've been at an 8 with all my boys when I got the epidural...I don't recommend it!).

After the epidural, life became good again...until Connor's heart rate dropped like a rock! The nurse said that the cord must be wrapped around his neck. He seemed to do better when I laid on my left side, so that's what did. Unfortunately, epidural fluid follows the Law of Gravity...hence, my left side was EXTREMELY numb & my right side could still feel everything! Not cool! They had to keep giving me epidural fluid like crazy to get my right side to feel semi-numb...so, as you can imagine, my left side felt very non-existent by the time all was said and done (I didn't get feeling back into my left leg until the following morning at about 10 am).

At this point, I was fully dilated & Connor's heart rate wasn't doing too great! My doctor (who wasn't even the doctor on call) came in to deal with the situation. He told me that we needed to get the baby out and get him out fast. He needed me to push like I'd never pushed before. Well, that's easy to do, I thought, I've NEVER pushed before! Anyway, I pushed really hard once and then the doctor picked up his forceps. He actually took them apart & used just one of them to do some tricky maneuver to get Connor out in just a matter of seconds. Connor had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, and looked a little blue...but he started crying immediately after the cord was unwrapped (and he didn't STOP crying for the next 2 months...don't you love colic?!?) Anyway, he was happy and healthy! I was such a happy mama!

And, appropriately, I found out later that I had given birth to him in the middle of SW Louisiana's biggest October tornado outbreak in history! I had NO CLUE because all the nurses & doctors stayed so calm the whole time, but I guess several tornadoes touched down within miles of the hospital I was at. Crazy, eh?

So, that's the story of Connor's birth. Sorry it was a little long! We love our little ConMan! He is growing into such a great little guy! He is happy about 95% of the time (unless he doesn't get enough sleep) and is so fun to be around. He is turning into quite the little artist too (a talent he gets from Mike)! I love you to pieces ConCon! Happy birthday! --Mom