Spirit turns 9

NINE years ago today I gave birth to my first child. It was an easy labor, compared to some stories I have heard. I woke up at 2:00 am and my water had broke. We got to the hospital about 3-ish. The doctors and nurses warned us that we were in for the long haul, that this was my first baby so we were probably looking at 24 hours or so. I was told to "relax the best I could" and try to rest. Ya right. I was nervous and scared and in a little pain. Looking back, the pain wasn't so bad in comparison to some things, but after every contraction I was throwing up. That was not fun. I asked for the "drugs" as soon as they were able to give them to me (in my mind I was thinking 24 hours of barfing doesn't sound like relaxing or like much fun). If I had known that I wasn't going to be in labor for 24 hours I probably would have just suffered through the barfing.

I had a midwife for this pregnancy which I loved. She was awesome and so gentle. Except that she wasn't able to be there to deliver -- thanks to that whole 24 hour nonsense. At 6 or so they gave me an epidural and the throwing up stopped - thankfully! I was sick of barfing, seriously sick of it! Then at about 8:45 am I called the nurse into my room to ask what would be my next move? She informed me I would probably feel like I needed to have a bowel movement, so I told her that is exactly what I was feeling. She sort of rolled her eyes in disbelief, saying something about there was "no way" because I couldn't be dilated enough. She had me lift my legs and sure enough. The rest is blurry to me. Mr. Man says the next thing that happened was the nurse getting on an overhead page saying something about needing a doctor Stat! An intern doctor made it and was helping me along and then finally a doctor made it in.

It got a little traumatic and I had no idea what was happening, but could see a panicked look on Mr. Man's face so I knew things were scary. They put an oxygen mask on me and then kept staring at screens and telling me not to push. The doctor looked at me and said "I'm just gonna push the baby's head back in and tickle his head. Ok." --- being a woman in labor I wasn't thinking rationally so I said "you're NOT pushing him back IN. He needs OUT."

Apparently the baby's heart rate was dropping too low so they pushed him in and Mr. Man said he could see the heart rate go back up.

Anyway, eventually we tried again and with just a few pushes he was out. It was a beautiful thing!

He still is a beautiful thing. He has a great, tender heart and I love watching all the love he has for people.

Today Mr. Man took off work and we pulled Spirit out of school so the two of them could go skiing. I made cinnamon rolls (Spirit's request) for his early breakfast and tonight I am making Beef Stroganoff for dinner (again, his request).

Happy Birthday Buddy!