Pineapple works!

Well, the due date of March 14th came and went.  The 15th I had some very consistent contractions so my dear husband and I walked around the block for about an hour and since they didn't disappear and seemed to get closer together we made the trek to Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Birthing Center.  We got there had maybe 2 or 3 contractions in the triage room, walked the halls for about an hour holding hands and talking with each other and went home.  It was a nice little date, although I could think of many more romantic places I would've liked to be. 
No progress for the next day so I decided to go shopping with the Z girls, my mom, sister & niece.  We walked around Target, hit the dollar spot to spend the money all the cousins got from Poppy and before heading home, made a stop at Sprouts to get a pineapple.  My last attempt at coaxing Chazaq to make an appearance on the outside. 
We arrived home, everyone else had delicious sandwiches for lunch and I ate half of a pineapple all by myself.  That happened around noon and by 2:30 I was having SERIOUS contractions every 15 minutes.  I texted Jeremy who was at work and went to take a bath to see if they would go away.  I called Jeremy again and told him he'd probably better start heading home.  He came home, and we made the trek once again to the birthing center.  This time I needed a wheel chair to even get to the elevator.  I was in real labor finally!  I had hoped to have this child without an epidural as my blood pressure dropped drastically with my 2nd child.  But something in my gut told me this would not be the easy delivery I had experienced twice previously and I decided to get the epidural.  My fear was that I'd have to have a cesarean and without the epidural I would have to be put under general anesthesia and would not get to see my baby immediately after birth.
We went to the room I was going to deliver in, got the epidural, and after my labor seemed to be progressing nicely,  the Dr. broke my water as that had been a tried and true way for me to have a baby in less than 45 minutes in the past.  Chazaq's heartrate began to drop and I could see a look of concern on Jeremy's face.  I was moved in all different kinds of positions to try to get him off the cord but nothing was working.  The Dr even tried to reach in to pull him out.  We were both becoming distressed so off the the "back" we went. 
Jeremy was taken to a room to get dressed for the surgery and all I could see were masked faces and eyes.  None of which were the eyes that I wanted to see.  I heard Dr. Schwartz command someone to "Get her husband in here!" and the eyes I longed for were there comforting me.  Our son was delivered and we discovered that he was face up with the cord wrapped around his neck twice.  Both of these factors made it impossible to deliver naturally.  Praise the Lord for a Dr that knew how to decide what to do quickly and acted on it efficiently.  
After the surgery was completed I was taken to a couple of different rooms before settling in our room that we would stay in for 4 days.  This recovery was much more difficult than my previous two deliveries. I remember saying to the nurse, "People really request this on purpose?"  It was much more difficult than I had anticipated.
All in all, the birth went well even though it was not as planned.  I have a healthy, happy baby boy who has stolen my heart!  I'm thankful for that gut feeling that helped me do what I felt was best for myself and my baby.  And I'm thankful for the pineapple that helped to get it all started!