A Miracle is Born

HMMMM, where to begin. Well, it all started in May of 2004. Although we didn't know it had started until July of 2004... But that's another story. We got pregnant! The months passed, and it was finally time for our baby to be born. Because we love surprises, we opted not to find out the sex before the baby was born.

Labor started on Friday, February 10. It was slow going, and mainly annoying at first. On Saturday, things started to move a little faster, but then slowed down again. Around midnight on Saturday night, I felt a mysterious dampness, and wondered to myself if my water had broken. The next morning I called my doctor.

Needless to say, he sent me to the hospital to check my water. I got there Sunday morning, February 13, 2005 at around 10:00. We sat, they ran tests, we sat, they came in and out, we sat, they did an ultrasound, we sat and talked about eating lunch soon, they came and told me NO FOOD - we're inducing labor! I was hungry, too!

At about 1:00 p.m. that Sunday, the nurse started an IV with a Pitocin drip. This would speed my labor and make the baby come sooner. At around 3:00 my best friend, and the baby's godmother-to-be, came to spell my husband sitting with me. She brought crossword puzzles, and between contractions, we solved them. It passed the time. Soon, though, I could hardly concentrate. The contractions were strong, and 5 minutes apart. This was at about 6:30 or so in the evening. The nurses administered some morphine, and I drifted away, talking and fine between contractions, I continued to try to help with crosswords, but my mind wasn't quite working. At 11:00 my friend left to get some rest. At first I was upset, because it seemed like she had only stayed a very short time. Then I looked at the clock and realized how long it had actually been.

I asked for more morphine, because the pain was becoming intolerable. They gave me more, but it didn't work as well the second time around! At about 2:00 a.m., the nurse came in with a doctor to check my progress. I was FINALLY at the point where an epidural could be administered. I was so happy! However, as with all things, there was a catch. The delivery room had to be cleaned before I could be moved, and I could only receive the epidural IN the delivery room. So I waited... and waited... and waited. Finally, the nurses got tired of waiting for housekeeping, and they cleaned the room themselves. THANK GOODNESS!

The anesthesiologist came in at about 3 a.m. to place my epidural. When he was finished, I admit, I professed my love for the man. What came next was more waiting. I drifted in and out of sleep and my husband wrote a letter to the new baby. At about 6:00 a.m., I started to feel some pressure on my tailbone. I called the nurse, and she assured me that all was fine. At about 6:30, the pressure increased, and they checked to see how I was progressing... 8 cm and 85% effaced - no pushing yet! My husband called my friend, Franny, and she came back to the hospital.

At 6:50, I was incredibly uncomfortable, and the pressure was enormous. My body was beginning to push, whether they told me it was OK or not! My husband got the nurse, and she assured me that I couldn't possibly be "complete", and the doctor would come in. SURPRISE! In that 20 minutes, I had dialated the final 2 centimeters, and was fully effaced. At 7:00 a.m., they told me I could begin to push.

Nine minutes, and three pushes later, I felt my baby being born. My husband was on one side of me, holding my leg, and my friend was on the other. The two of them witnessed our baby being born. My husband looked into my eyes, and said "We have our Abigail Grace!" That's how I knew it was a girl... I looked into Franny's eyes, and with tears streaming down her face, she told me she was proud of me, and that she had never seen anything like that before in her life!



Finally, they brought our baby girl to the bed, and I held her in my arms for the first time. All of the anxiety and exhaustion from the previous days melted away. I was in love! And so was my husband - I lost him to another woman - on Valentine's Day!

What a wonderful thing.