My Birth Story - Part 1

Where do I start!?!  When I was pregnant with Aaliyah, I didn't know the first thing about having or raising a baby; so I got online and studied.  That is typical of me.  My mother says you can tell me until I am blue in teh face; but until I read it, I won't believe it.  Well, I don't know if I'm that bad; but I do like to have a second opinion (smile).  Back to the subject at hand... I also watched a video highly recommended to me by my friend Mary entitled The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake ( I am not endorsing her; but the video was an eye opener for me).  I also watched a lot of parenting videos at the pregnancy center in our neighborhood.  The information I gathered led me to enquire about a home - and possibly- water birth; but there were no services like that in our imediate area.  The day before I was due I was scheduled by my doctor to be induced; but my husband and I didn't feel comfortable with that idea (I felt even more uncomfortable after I went on a tour of the hospital.  The nurse I talked with - Amanda - "advised" me ever so carefully to reconsider being induced, especially since I didn't want to take any pain medication) so we never showed up.  The next night (Wednesday) I had my first contraction just after 3:00 p.m. after shampooing the carpets in the house, cleaning the couches, and doing a three mile walk - I was going for four; but I didn't make it.   My husband got home from work at 5:30p. and I told him I thought this was it; but I don't think he believed me because he dropped me off at church and ran the bus route.  So there I was at the piano having contractions; then I was at the back of the church having contractions; then I called the hospital and Amanda answered the phone!  (I had prayed that Amanda would be there for my delivery; but I guess I wasn't specific enough because two Amandas work in that dept. and this was a different Amanda.  She did do a great job though.)  She told me not to come in until I was having contractions four minutes apart.  BUMMER!!!  After church we drove to the hospital and walked around the track until my contractions were four minutes apart.  I  was checked in at 10:00p.m. and I did ok until about two in the morning.  All of a sudden I felt like someone was trying to kill me, there was a bright light in my face, and two women were arguing about which was was best to take my blood.  One said something about my veins collapsing... Comforting right!?!  Well, my veins didn't collapse and Aaliyah was born at 2:59a.m.  The doctor showed up just in time to watch my husband cut Aaliyah's imbellical cord.

I would love to tell you that I grabbed my newborn, loved on her, and nursed her; but I would be lying.  The nurse cleaned her up and handed her to me.  I smiled for the picture, then handed her to her father and said I wanted to go to sleep!  After I got some rest, I woke up at about four in the morning to an older woman holding my baby and telling me she needed to eat.  Then I loved on her and nursed her...Now I was in love and I didn' t want anyone to take her away. 

Overall I think I had a pretty good experience; but Cassidy's birth story is totally different and I loved it...as much as you can love having a baby!  Stay tuned for her story!