This very day last year, marked the absolute best day of my life. I have never documented this day and thought today would be a perfect time to reflect on the details that made July 8th, 2009 such a monumental event.
The birth of our daughter began on July 7th, 2009, one day after my due date. I woke up at 4:50 am, feeling a bit different. I laid there and waited to feel it again. Yep, this was what they called contractions. My friend, was right when she said I'd know the difference between Braxton Hicks and the real thing. After a couple more times, I woke up Kevin and said "It's happening." I tried to remain calm but couldn't wait to call my mom and make sure she was on the road to California. That morning Kevin and I got showers and slowly prepared for the hospital.
My contractions were never consistent, sometimes two minutes apart, sometimes fifteen minutes apart. This caused a bit of anxiety. Would she come fast? Should we be racing to the hospital now? They say to stay at home as long as possible, but without having been through this I wanted the experts ASAP. So we arrived around 9 am. I was only 4 centimeters dilated when we got there and the doctor told us to walk around the hospital and get a light bite to eat. I can remember so vividly walking down to the cafeteria to get something to eat while they prepared our room. I don't think I have ever been in so much pain and so happy all at the same time. I couldn't wait to see her face, hear her cries, and hold her in my arms.
We got into our room and got settled in. Kevin turned on the t.v. and we watched Michael Jackson's funeral. I will never forget my favorite artist John Mayer singing Human Nature. It was so good! As the contractions (still inconsistent) wore on, my family started arriving. It was so comforting to see my mom and aunt's face and to know my dad was there supporting me too.
After a couple of shift changes and at about 6 pm I was dilated to 7 centimeters and ready for an epidural. I wanted to see how long I could go, but with back labor and laboring pretty much all day, I threw in the towel on the au naturale birth. Unfortunately, labor was slowed with the epidural and pitocin was now in need.
As the night turned into a new day, I started to feel like the epidural was wearing off, so we had the nurse come in. She said it wasn't wearing off and that it was time to push! I can't believe how fearful at one point I was of this moment, but when it actually presented itself, I couldn't have been more thrilled! It meant I was so close to meeting our baby girl. So after about fifteen minutes of pushing the doctor came in to check on me and quickly left thinking it would be another hour or so. I, however, proved him wrong and after about ten minutes of pushing as hard as I knew how, the nurse called him back in to deliver our baby.
While Mom held on to one of my legs and gave me words of encouragement, Kevin counted and stroked my head, and Aunt Pam video tapped (from an appropriate angle of course) I gave birth to Addelyn Ann at 12:42 am. She weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. She was beautiful and after getting the cord unwrapped from her neck we could hear her cries.
When they laid her on my chest, her cries stopped and I starred at her in awe knowing without a doubt this was one of those moments I had waited for all of my life. Addelyn Ann you are our miracle and dream come true. There is a saying, "I knew I loved you before I met you." and this couldn't be any more true. Happy First Birthday Baby Girl!
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