The Story of Sweetie

Well, good thing I got that hospital bag packed. That very night (1:00 a.m.) is when I woke up, to my surprise (thinking I had 2-3 more weeks and all) and thought, "Owwwwwwwwww". Contractions had started and I did my best to stop them--changing positions, warm shower. Finally at about 3:00 I told J we'd better call our sweet friend Aubrey to stay with our kids, and head to the hospital. J is the best labor coach ever, and he was fantastic. But, I do have to say that I 'hum' through my contractions, and he was making little jokes like "hum it out" and "humdinger." Unamused.

I was dilated to a 4 when we arrived at the hospital at 4:30 a.m. and I labored through contractions until about 6:30 when I got an epidural. It's funny (okay, not funny-funny), but they ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10. Every time I hear that question, I think of Brian Regan's bit on the pain scale. Youtube it sometime when you have a minute. Anyway, I'm not too chatty at this point, but in my head I'm screaming "10, for heaven's sake, it's a 10!!!" Then he comes in--the anesthesiologist, with supplies that would normally be found only in my worst nightmares. Go ahead, I think, stick huge needles wherever you need to. By the way, I love you.

So I ended up needing two, since the right side didn't take, which made the block go almost all the way up my chest, which made my blood pressure tank, which made 'them' force me to do the rest of labor lying down, and more boring stuff. J went down to the gift shop and got me some gum and a People magazine so that I could at least catch up on celebrity gossip while we were waiting.

Due to a fortunate turn of events, my own doctor was able to deliver our little girl. Dr. Wang came in, put on her fancy blue gown, and asked me to do a practice push, which turned into a real push, which ended up being the only push. I guess having four kids will do that to your body.

Out she popped--our sweet, vernix-covered little Sweetie. I was absolutely delighted to see her. Jessica, my sweet nurse, let me snuggle her as long as I wanted before weighing her (7 lb 8 oz) and measuring her (20 inches long).

Oh...love. The sweet sound of the newborn cry, the perfect soft skin, the new baby smell. It's love at first sight--complete, utter, overwhelming adoration. The moment you see your baby, you know that you're looking at a new piece of your soul...that your heart just got larger...and there's nothing you wouldn't do for this tiny, tiny person.

The past few days have been a sweet, tiring blur of soft moments and tangible joy. We've loved having her here. The kids adore her, and we've savored the new things she does every day--stay awake for more than a moment and blink big blue eyes, smile in her sleep at sweet dreams, etc. We're basking in the little piece of heaven that a newborn brings.

{contented sigh}