Birth Story

Caution: Long.

I was lying in bed last night at 2:00 AM not able to sleep. Don't you hate that annoying not-able-to-sleep time we all have here and there? Super annoying. Anywho...I was thinking about when E was born and figured it was about time I write down his birth story--considering it has been over a year and he is walking everywhere now, eating real people food and talking up a storm; pretty much growing up before my eyes. I am wanting to write this down for myself, really so I can come back and read this in a few years and be able to recall all of  the fond (yes, I mean fond. Not in a sarcastic way, either.) memories. I wanted to write this for you all too...to let you know that it isn't that bad. The long, tough births are the one's we all hear about and get scared over--not all deliveries are torture. I promise. :)

I would have 10 babies if I were guaranteed a pregnancy and birth the way I had it. Piece of cake; loved every minute of it. I was not sick, swollen or grumpy. Hell, I walked through the hills and cobblestone streets of England and Scotland when I was 5 months pregnant, without trouble.

Here's how it went down:

My water broke at 12:35 AM on Wednesday, September 30 (one day before my due date). Thank goodness my water broke. I would have hated to be in that "are these real contractions?" state and go to the hospital, only to be sent home. No thanks! Everything was packed, so we flew out the door and drove the 3 miles to the hospital--Baptist South. We were admitted immediately and I felt great. I was 3 centimeters when we got there. I felt perfectly fine until about 2:00 AM and then the bad-boy contractions started! Whew...they came and they came fast. They were about 30 seconds apart for a good while. I think I went until 3:30 AM and then asked for the epidural. A nice little Romanian woman came in...the Heavens opened up, the angels sang, and the cold liquid relief ran through my back. Thank you, Jesus. :) No, really...thank you, Jesus! If you are ever wondering if you should get an epidural or not--get one. There is no need to suffer if you don't have to. I know--if the women in the rice fields could do it hundreds of years ago without meds, you can too. Whatever.

After I got the epidural, my nurse checked and I was 5 or 6 centimeters. She said that in most cases first babies, especially boys, tend to be slower coming out and making their grand entrance. Not this kid. I really just hung out from 3:30-7:30. My mom made it just in time. At 7:30, I was checked and was 10 centimeters. At 7:45 I pushed a few times. It turns out that my Dr. was in an emergency C-section so we were told we had to stop pushing and wait a few minutes. Fine by me...I didn't feel anything and didn't have the urge to push either, so we stopped at 7:55. The Dr. flew in at 8:05, said "Let's have this baby!" and after one more push, E-man came out at 8:09 AM.

That's all folks. 7 and 1/2 hours from start to finish. Couldn't have asked for better! The nurses were great, Ofir was great, E is a total blessing and all was well. I do feel like God is going to give me rough pregnancies and deliveries next time though--this was just too easy and perfect. Murphy's law. Ha!