The day you were born was the day our whole lives changed. For the better. But I knew that your little stubborn self wouldn't come out easy, you made me wait 20 hours. Here's the story of how you made your arrival.
Wednesday 5PM May 1st:
Daddy and I checked into the hospital for the night and a round of cervadil to get the process cooking. This is when, you, my little brownie would start to fluff to the perfect gooey chocolate mess that I love. The plan was that you would be ready to pop out of the oven the next day. You had your own plan. The doc didn't expect the cervadil to put me into active labor, just prep. Again, you had your own plan. I started having off the chart contractions a minute and a half apart only 2 hours after the medicine. I was scared, Daddy was worried about me, and your grandparents decided to leave at this point because things were getting uncomfortable and I knew it would be a long night.
Our nurse for the night was awesome. The first thing she said to me was "I'm in the business of having babies before my shift ends and the shift ends at 7 am, so let's get this going". She snuck me graham crackers and water the rest of the night so I wouldn't feel like I was going to pass out. I was determined not to take any pain medicine other than the epidural but after intense contractions for a few hours, I was practically begging for it. I remember looking at Daddy and being in the worst pain I could possibly imagine and all of a sudden a warm fuzzy feeling came over me. I felt better. It was actually kind of fun at this point. I said a few funny things to your Daddy, almost fell over in the bathroom and actually got some rest. I was going to sleep through this. Well, some of it.
A couple of hours with the medicine seemed to be pleasant but then the pain came back and I was begging for the epidural. Your daddy was such a trooper. He held my hand, watched me sleep when I could, and walked me and my trusty IV to the bathroom about a million times. When things were progressing faster than we had planned, I began to text and call your grandparents because we thought you might make your arrival by early morning.
Again, you had other plans. The progress came to a halt as soon as everyone arrived and then we played the waiting game. It wasn't until 12:30 that I began to feel a strong urge to push. My nurse must have thought I was crazy because I was only at 7 centimeters. So she did her regular check and I was still a 7. 30 minutes later I was certain she was wrong again and I made her check a second time. I was a 9 1/2. This was it. This was what I had been waiting for. I was about to push. Except, I got really scared and began to cry. I wanted you here more than anything in the world but I was terrified to push. Your Daddy was a nervous wreck. Right before I began pushing he actually asked "Do you think we have everything we need at home?" I told him he would need to quit talking at this point. Ha.
With your Nana and Grammie behind me and your Daddy beside me, I began the longest 40 minutes of my life. Your heart rate kept dropping and I became nervous and scared. With every ounce of me, I just wanted you out. I will never forget that last push. The staff practically threw you on my stomach and I began to sob. You were the most precious thing I had ever laid my eyes on and our lives were changed forever, for the better.
We welcomed you, all 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and 20.5 inches of you.
Love,
Momma
