Throughout the pregnancy I had maintained that she would come early (as a favor to me, perhaps?!), even though I knew it was unlikely for a first time pregnancy. At around 37 weeks I started walking, swimming, eating pineapple (?) ... basically anything that google said would help me go into labor. Every time I got up in the middle of the night to pee, I would hope my water broke, but it never did. Finally, at almost 39 weeks, with only three days left of work before I started my maternity leave, I resigned myself to thinking I'd be better off if I just made it through the week and went into labor closer to my due date.
And then ...
It happened. Only I didn't know it happened. At 38 weeks and 6 days, my water broke at around 9 am in the morning. But instead of a break and a noticeable leak, like I was expecting, it was more of a reeaaallly slow trickle (sorry, TMI). I wasn't sure if my water had broken at all. I stayed home from work and moved up my doctor appointment for that day, just in case my water had indeed broken. But I really didn't think it did.
At 1pm I went to the doctor and described the morning's events. She checked out the goods and then stated so calmly and matter-of-factly that yes, my water had broken, and that I was going to have a baby today. WHAT?! I was instructed to go straight to the hospital, I couldn't even grab my bags from home on the way. Alexis was working so he would have to meet me there with our stuff. The whole thing was surreal.
I arrived at the hospital at around 1:30 pm and got settled while waiting for Alexis, who arrived a couple of hours later. I started to have some contractions and was put on pitocin to get them going even more. Once the contractions started getting stronger and more frequent, I opted for an epidural and instantly felt more relaxed (best. decision. ever.) The doctor eventually came into break my water even more, and the nurses continued to monitor my contractions for the next couple of hours. Most importantly, I asked Alexis to order Jimmy Johns, just in case the cafeteria was closed once the baby was born (this was my worst fear; hours of labor and nothing to eat when it was over. Also, I wanted my first Turkey Tom in 9 months).
When I was almost about ready to push, the doctor was busy delivering another baby via C-section, so we waited and shifted position to get the baby to move down even further. Finally, at around 9:30 pm, we got the okay to start pushing, and 45 minutes later, the doctor was holding up little Emmy for me to see, much like Rafiki held up Simba in the Lion King. I just remember thinking, even at almost 8 lbs, she looked so long and lanky. She was laid on top of me for skin to skin contact, and everything still just felt so surreal. There was no crazy roller coaster of emotions, just a sense of peace, like "we did it. That's our baby."
She was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little beauty, which neither of us was expecting. I was so worried that she would look nothing like me, and instead she very much resembles the baby pictures of myself and my brother. I can't wait to see what features she gets from her father as she gets older.
I still can't believe the whole process was as easy as it was. Not that there's anything easy about labor, but I had prepared myself for the worst, and at the end of the day, my experience was so relaxed and peaceful, and (thanks to the epidural), far less painful that I had imagined. I feel extremely fortunate to have had such a healthy pregnancy, a safe labor, and a beautiful little girl. Not to mention, a husband that is such a natural at being a father, it blows me away. I simply couldn't be happier with our little family.
