September 11, 2003, I was in the hospital giving birth to my precious son and it was the happiest day of my life in my short 21 years. And so I will share that story.
There was a full moon on September 10th, and around 6 pm that evening, I lost my mucous plug. Yes, that is nasty. I won't even try to sugar coat it. But, after that, and I mean, almost within the hour, I began to have contractions. As I was a first time mom and didn't know anything besides what I read in my What to Expect While Expecting book about childbirth or pregnancy(this was before I was internet or computer savvy, ok?), I wasn't quite sure what to do. So, I called my then boyfriend at work and told him I was in labor. He came home shortly after and we began timing my contractions. As I was overdue and was supposed to have my baby on September 7th, I had an appointment at 11 am with my ob/gyn the next day. My contractions never really got closer than 6 or 7 minutes apart throughout the night. I was uncomfortable, but not in pain and took several warm baths to ease my discomfort.
At 11 am, in the dr's office, Dr Gordon checked me and informed us that I was indeed 2 centimeters and that it was time! Woohoo!! He said to go get checked in at the hospital and he'd be over shortly to break my water. Mark(the boyfriend at the time) and I walked to the car and I called my mom. "It's time! We're going to the hospital now!" I told her and she of course said she was on her way. It was beginning to sprinkle. We drove across the parking lot to the women's center and proudly told the nurses at the station we were there to have a baby! They got me all checked in and hooked up to all sorts of contraptions. The first nurse I had I didn't really care for and I was very, very relieved when the nurse who taught our Lamaze class saw my name on the door and asked to replace the other nurse. She was awesome!
I was given some pitocin and Dr Gordon broke my water. He mentioned that there was meconium in the water and that I wouldn't get to hold the baby directly after he was born because they'd want to check him right away. But that this was normal for overdue babies and not to worry. It started to really hurt. I didn't want to get an epidural and was trying to struggle through the pain. My boyfriends dad kept feeding me ice chips. That was really annoying and I felt like screaming at him to stop it, but I knew he was just trying to be nice. My family was all there and so many of my friends were there. I began to hold my breath during contractions. Mark was such an attentive boyfriend and he somehow remembered the breathing we were taught in our class and held my hand and helped with this. I was given some sort of pain medication. I don't remember what it was, but I was still attempting to go without the epidural.
I was around 7 centimeters somewhere around 4 in the afternoon and I finally asked for the epidural. They came to give it to me, but I don't think it worked right. I mean, I have since had another baby and had an epi with her and I felt NOTHING at all after that epi. Anyway...within a few minutes of getting the epidural I began to feel alot of pressure and screamed at Mark to get the nurse "RIGHT NOW!!!" He of course, took off running for the nurses. They came in and sure enough, it was time to push!!! Now, let me tell you...I was told that with the epidural, and being a first time mom, that I would not feel much and would probably push for hours. Bullshit I say!!! That child was coming! It hurt like hell! I won't lie. I started cussing. I literally only pushed for about 20 minutes, if even that long and he popped on out a little before 5:30 pm. But not before I saw stars. I swear to you, I saw stars when his head came out. I let out the mother of all screams and there was blackness and stars. Oh my goodness! They held him up for me to see. He was HUGE!!!! They took him to the little crib to check him out and clean him up before they brought him to me. He was 10 lbs!!! He was adorable and wonderful and perfect. He spent no time at all in that birth canal either, as his head was perfectly round. He was very aware and alert and held his little head up to look at me. I was in love and absolutely enamored with him. This September 11th was the best day of my life and brought such joy to everyone there.
From that day on, he has done nothing but make me a happy, proud mom and I see September 11 as a joyous occasion to celebrate the happy day of my son's birth. This past Sunday, he turned 8 years old. In the last 8 years, he has grown from a chubby cheeked, fat little cherub into a tall, skinny, silly, and very talented little boy. He is so smart and so wonderful and he makes us laugh every day. He is my son and I wouldn't have him any other way or have him born on any other day. And that is what I was doing 8 years ago on September 11.
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