For Unto You is Born...

At 6:30 the next morning, the nurse said I could start...

What?

Yes.

I slept through labor.

I woke up on Thursday, December 12, 2002 at about 6 AM. The nurse checked my cervix and said I could start pushing. For about 20 minutes I pushed. Then I was told to stop because there was apparently a 'lip' that the poor little guy was whacking his head against. The nurse said she would dial back the epidural a bit and we would try a little later.

"Dial back the epidural a bit" was what she said. Ummm, yeah. If anyone ever says this to you, I advise you to claw their eyes out and run away. Run away fast, machines, tubes, and all. Especially if this is an induction because as I understand it, the labor pains in an induction are quite a bit worse than in a 'natural' labor.

After the fateful 'dialing back', I took my blood pressure meds (which I hadn't taken since the morning before). A (very) short time after that...Oh, my fucking God!!! Yeah, 'dial it back a bit.' Pain. More pain. Then, nausea. Whimpering, crying, oh, the humanity.

B, after seeing me crying and whimpering for 5 minutes or so, then went in search of a nurse.

Let me pause a minute to tell you how, um, forceful B can be. I am glad he was on my side because within minutes of his search I had 2 nurses and an anesthesiologist in my room.

"I am going to throw up." Good thing the nurse was there because, yes, I did. Thank god for the anesthesiologist because he dialed me back in and...ahhh.

About 9:30 AM I started pushing again.

At 10:10 AM, this beautiful boy was placed on my chest.

They lie to you when they tell you that 'you forget all about the pain' because no, I haven't forgotten about the pain. But I look at this wonderful boy and say 'Yes, it was worth it.'

Happy birthday, my wonderful little boy. I love you more than I have words to express. I will love you forever and ever.