E's Arrival: A Birth Story (Part I).
Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 09:13PM On February 25, I posted the entry "WELCOME TA-TA S.!" and wrote in anticipation of her weekend stay with us: "maybe she'll be our baby-D. good luck charm and baby D. will decide to arrive while she's here. What fun!"
My dear, dear friend S., visiting from Michigan for a fortuitous two nights, was indeed our baby-D. good luck charm. Because baby D arrived on the second night of S.'s visit.
And thank goodness. See, I wasn't the most gracious host (I suspect S. is rolling her eyes here; I keep bringing this up and she keeps reminding me that I was on the verge of having a baby) and the least I could do for my visiting friend was have a baby, right? I, mean, was freakin' grouchy. Well, not on Friday, when I gave S. a quick driving tour of the town and briefly stopped off at a local toy store (to shop for S.'s kiddos) and Trader Joe's (to purchase what we hoped to be labor-inducing eggplant parmesan). But Saturday . . . I was definitely grouchy. And decidedly against doing anything fun with my beloved friend during her short visit. I just wanted to sit in one place and succumb to my barely-post due-date blues. S. wanted to know: did I want to walk? No. Anything? No. Except for eat more eggplant. I'd eaten it for dinner on Friday night and again for lunch on Saturday. But still, no baby. And, quite honestly and despite all my attempts at positivity, I was annoyed (except with my dear A.; this picture was taken that Saturday afternoon).
Even M. was in a bit of a funk. Napping, not especially interested in doing anything either. And then he set to work on things around the house (was he nesting?): adjusting the cradle, fixing the ballister on our staircase. My mom, for her part, was keeping our home together and in order. And she kept Miss A. busy as my energy fizzled away. Thank goodness for her.
S. announced that she would walk to our nearby Starbucks and I finally pulled it together and stepped into the fresh air with her. She graciously treated me to a yummy, warm drink and we talked, and talked. The conversation was so cathartic, so energizing. I was lucky to have my guest here, taking care of me. Then, we decided to head home. It was getting late, time for dinner. Time to eat more eggplant. This time, we'd order it from the Chinese take-out.
As we waited for our dinner delivery, things took an exciting turn. No, labor didn't begin (well, it wasn't noticeable at this point). Rather, our neighbor T. was locked out of her house, keyless and cell phone-less. And, she had a *first* date at 7:30PM - less than one hour away. And, she was in gym clothes. And, she couldn't reach from our cell phones the two people who held a key to her home. My mom and S. got to work on figuring out how to pick T.'s lock. I offered her our shower, but apologized that I only had maternity clothes to share. Then, strangely, I started to tidy up, cleaning the living room as I chatted with T. M. looked up locksmiths. The Chinese delivery arrived, but with a hitch: the delivery guy plum-refused to bring the food to our door. And so an over-the-phone argument ensued between a pregnant, grouchy, hungry me and the man (M. ultimately tracked the guy down, collected our food, and sent away the driver, sans tip). And in the flurry of that hour, as the minutes ticked by and T. became visibly nervous about the arrival of her date, S. turned to me and said something to the effect of, "the energy is weird in here. I think you're going to go into labor!"
Eventually, the lock-out situation was resolved. My mom and A., their dinners finished, set off to begin A.'s bath routine, leaving S., M., and I to enjoy our dinner. During this time, S. kept urging me to eat more and more egplant and even pushed her drink-filled "Birthing Inn" glass towards me, a glass that I had received from the hospital after A. was born, in an effort to inspire labor. Eggplant-filled Me? Well, I was still grouchy. And I decided to take a shower. And carefully choose nice pajamas, you know, just in case I might have to leave the house in them. And paint my finger and toenails (with a modest, clean clear polish, of course). And fix my hair (gel and all). Hmmmm. Weird.
Just after 8PM, I joined everyone in the living room. M. looked at me and announced, "your belly is really low." Interesting. It really was. But, whatever. I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant. It should be low. Then M. was off to get A. into bed. I sat down and . . . suddenly I felt different. I think felt a contraction. Then another. And I looked at the clock. Another contraction. Clock. Contraction. After 15 or 20 minutes I announced to my mom and S., almost afraid to jinx myself and misreport, "I think I'm in labor."
To be continued . . .
Reader Comments (4)
Seriously? To be continued is NOT fun......what happened? I want to learn SO bad about how one goes into labor naturally.....please! I need more info, Corie!:)
Girl, you stop playin' like that. Shame on you! I thought this was an April fools joke until i checked the post date. I love you, and i'll check back in a half hour for the rest of the story....so FINISH it.:) I love Emma's story so far. I'm proud of you.
And, AMEN to Em's comment....half hour....
working! working! i took flack for this from my dad, too! i