Ok, I thought it would bore even the most interested, but some people have requested to hear the story of the day Nathan was born. It actually started the night before. We (Eric and I) had been to the Gunderson farm for a birthday party for David. I think he was turning 13 or so. We stopped at Eric's apartment on the way back to my parent's farm (where I was living at the time) and that is where I lost "the plug" (I know, TMI). So, I had an idea something was going to happen. In the wee hours of the morning, I got up to use the bathroom, or so I thought. My water broke at the top of the stairs. I didn't know what to do, and I was afraid to move! (first-timer here!) It took a while for Mom to hear my pleas for help from the top of the stairs... when she did wake up, she told me to get dressed, and proceeded to scrub the living daylights out of the carpet at the top of the stairs (they were trying to sell the farm after all). At that point I called Eric. He came up in his little blue Ford Festiva to take me to VMH. I had to pose for a quick pic as Mom couldn't remember if she had a photo of me pregnant. I can't remember Dad getting up, but I'm sure he did. Probably leaned on the counter and delivered well-timed smart comments.Anyway. We were off to Viroqua when the sun was just starting to come up. If you know Eric, you know what a "cautious" driver he is. Not that morning. I never remember him driving so fast. We almost hit a deer before we even got to Hwy 61. I assured him that I would not give birth in the car if he would just drive safely and get me there in one piece! Checking in is a little fuzzy. I just remember being incredibly nervous! Dr. Starr was in town and able to come in. (Little side story here - he was my Mom's dr. when she had me. When she went into labor, Dr. Starr was @ a Badger game, so Dr. Oppert assisted in delivery. Being that Nathan was born on a Thursday, he was still in town). He told me it would be late afternoon or evening when I would deliver, and I kept saying it would be much sooner. Funny how a woman knows, even though I had never given birth before. He had the nurses do all the old-time prep on me (I won't go into details). Meanwhile, the entire Gunderson clan (with the exception of maybe John, someone will have to help me out here) were at the hospital, along with my Mom. I remember as things started to progress rather quickly, I only wanted Eric in the room. At some point he got pretty hungry and bought a Reeses Peanut Butter cup out of the vending machine. The smell was awful! I don't think I allowed him to finish it in the room! We had chosen a mix tape of Enya and the soundtrack from "Witness" for our labor music. I still love to listen to it today. It was a cold day, and the first snowflakes of the year were starting to fall outside.
I did indeed prove Dr. Starr wrong, and started going into heavy labor mid-morning. They gave me a little something for the pain, as I remember almost falling asleep between contractions. At one point during pushing, Dr. Starr scolded me for yelling out. He said something to the effect that it wasn't going to help at all, and I should put that energy into pushing. Yes sir. So I did. Nathan Jodi Gunderson was born @ 10:42 am. "It's a boy child." he said, and I can't remember the look on Eric's face, but he must have been beaming. I remember telling the Dr. that I thought my pubic bone was going to break, and he said sometimes that does happen. Good to know. I remember thinking of my cousin Jodi often during labor, as she had just passed away the month before from a long struggle with cancer. It really put the pain of labor into perspective.
Apparently they took Nathan away immediately after delivery. I was trying to remember last night as I shared this story with Jeff. I don't actually remember when the first time I held him was. I am thinking it wasn't until I was in my room. I think at the time I didn't know what to expect, and I was just so glad it was over. Apparently his color wasn't good. I'm sure Eric, Rose, and my Mom know the exact details. I just remember being cold, hungry, and relieved. They put me in the same room that Mom recovered in when she delivered me! That fact seemed to scare my college friends, but no fear, they soon after remodeled the OB wing. I had Cornish Game hen for lunch and watched my brother on TV 13 Noon News, which I usually didn't get to do. I remember my Nathan was a little fuzzy head, and he just stared and stared at me. I also remember Phillip telling Eric, "You've got the world by a string now!" Other memories of the day included Eric going to get me a chocolate malt from DQ (I actually swore off chocolate during my pregnancy. How did I do that?!?!?) I remember Rodney, Linda, and Jennifer coming up in the evening, and bringing me diapers. Jen was starring in the NC production of "Annie" that weekend. My Dad was also able to come up that night - he had been filling silo that day. Chris recently told me the story of how he called her that day and said "Hello Aunt Chris." She didn't catch on until a minute or so into the conversation when he just came out and said "your sister had her baby today!"
My friends from school came up on our second night in the hospital. I was in my 4th year @ UW-Madison at the time of his birth. I did actually go to school that semester up until about the first of November, I think. I simply approached my professors the first day of class, told them that I was obviously pregnant, and due in November, and could we work something out with finishing the semester. All but one of the classes worked out fine. Being a pregnant college student garnered a fair share of stares, but maybe that was just me. Anyway, my friends all came up from Madison, and brought me some Dove chocolate, our favorite guilty pleasure. The nurse wouldn't let them come in for a while because we were having our steak dinner, so they went bowling with Jess, I think. We were very proud parents and were more than willing to show baby Nathan off.
We came home on Saturday evening, if I remember correctly. Chris and Brent came home with Brandon and Kayla. Kayla was only about 1 1/2 at the time, and hadn't started talking much yet. I remember he looking at me, the baby, and then my tummy a few times. Then she came up to me and looked between the buttons on my shirt like "how did they get that out of there?!?" Hard to think that she is in her 2nd year @ Iowa State now! This all does not seem like 18 years ago.
Nathan was a really good baby. I never knew how good I had it. I actually woke him up the first night home to feed him! I enjoyed every minute, and wish I could do it all over again. Miss you, Nate. You will be loved forever.
