It seems like only yesterday I was laying in bed watching TV with my husband when suddenly I started feeling "funny". There's really no other way for me to describe it. I had read about what it might/should feel like. I had worried endlessly that I might not know when it was time. But, I felt different. I rolled over and told Carl that I thought I was having contractions. He handed me his watch and told me to time them. Yes I know, very nurturing! So, I timed them, but wasn't exactly sure of what I was feeling.
After a few minutes, I decided that it was a false alarm. I got up to go to the bathroom and woosh, my water broke. For me it wasn't like what you see in the movies. I wasn't standing there with a giant pool of water on the floor beneath me. But, I was positive my water had broken. I stood there, frozen like deer in headlights, and called to Carl. Acting like this was an everyday thing, he calmly told me that we would head to the hospital in a little while. (Sometimes I wish he would freak out with me). After slowly gathering up our things, we finally got in the car at 1:00 am and headed to the hospital. Before pulling out of the driveway, my husband had to put the address of the hospital into our GPS. (It being 2 days after Christmas, Carl just HAD to try out his new toy) I was getting a little agitated, being that I was sitting in water, having contractions, and scared out of my mind. But, boys will be boys, so I let him have his fun. During the 5 minute trip, we listened to "Mr. T's" voice tell us the 'already familiar' turns to make in getting to our destination. But, we arrived, got a room, and began the long wait for Cale's arrival.
It's funny how labor pains feel. I guess funny isn't the proper word, because there is nothing laughable about the feeling. But, the pains are indescribable. I've almost forgotton exactly how they felt. But, I 'll never forget the magic of the epidural which finally was offered at 5 centimeters. Oh, the wonderful, glorious, heavenly shot in the back. Now, the moments proceeding the medicated bliss were about the scariest in my life. That needle was BIG, and not too comfortable being jammed into my back. Especially in the middle of a contraction, in which the doc expected me to remain very still (you can tell men have never experienced childbirth). But, once it was finally in....ahhhh. It was like being on a tropical island lounging in hammock good. Taking a nice long afternoon nap good. Almost make you forget you're having a baby good. Yeah, it was that good.
Finally, it was time to begin pushing. This was my moment. I was prepared for this. I had spent many hours in the gym anticipating this moment. I had always heard, the more in shape a woman was, the easier it was to push and the faster the baby would come. I exercised up until the day I went into labor. This was going to be a piece of cake. Wrong. Two hours later, exhausted from eye-bulging pushing, Cale's thick head of hair was all we could see. He was stuck, poor little guy. I blame Carl for what he calls "The Kirtley Big Head". Cale was just not coming out. So, the nurses finally called my doctor (yes, he was at home while I was sitting there with a baby's head peeking through) and he headed to the hospital. When he arrived, he made me push a little more, and then decided a snip snip was needed.
Suddenly, I felt the absolute most ODD feeling of the whole process. Cale was being pulled out. Then, I heard beautiful sound of crying. (These days, not quite so awe-inspiring) It was our baby boy. We were parents to a beautiful, dark headed, tiny baby boy. He weighed 5 lbs 13 oz, was dark complected, and had big, bright blue eyes.
With this moment, our lives would change forever. We had no idea what we were in for. Nothing can prepare you for being parents. No amount of baby books (It seems like a read them all), Internet articles, no amount of counseling from experienced parents, nothing! But, we can't imagine life without Cale. Were we not bored with all that free time?
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