Tonight I finally had a chance to get up to the hospital to visit my friend who’s just had a baby ~ a wee baby boy!! Tiny little thing, he was 3 weeks early weighing in at 6lbs 7oz. She had him on Monday at 3:36am via an emergency c-section. He was trying to come out bum first. Congrats Cher, Jarrell is so cute!

I didn’t have any flitters while holding him which is odd ’cause since my last post about no more babies… I’ve been staring at all the pregnant ladies, watching their bellies and remembering what it felt like.

I loved being pregnant (minus the bulging veins in my right leg during the last pregnancy, he’s there in my belly in the picture). I loved rubbing my belly and watching the baby move from side to side. With my last baby, it was all up front – completely up front, nothing in the behind – 50 lbs gained but I still had a waist, it was weird. I was blessed too ~ I have no stretch marks; I loved having my belly hang out. Delivery was never that difficult either. With the last baby the nurses didn’t believe me that I was in labour. When in triage I was asked what my birth plan was I said, “I want an easy, quick and pain-free delivery!”. She laughed. From the time I finally convinced them to do an internal in triage to the time I had JZ in the delivery room, one hour and 25 minutes had passed. No drugs and no tearing. His was an incredible birthing experience. Did I mention that he was 10 lbs 7.5oz? They weren’t all that easy but not out of control either.

I tore with my first, he had a big head! Q was 2 weeks early and weighed 8 lbs 1 oz (Oct 1998). My water broke just after returning home from a shopping trip to Home Depot, we were picking up paint for the nursery (after a full day at work where my co-worker was watching me shift from side to side all day and she told me to go home and pack my bags because I was in labour). I fell asleep in the car ride home to our beautiful home in the country. I told my hubby to make dinner; I was just way too tired. At 8:30pm while sitting on the couch I heard and felt a loud “POP” sound, like the sound of a champagne cork popping and then a gush. My hubby thought I wet myself at first and called his mom just to make sure it wasn’t that (like I didn’t know the difference, it is my body!! but his mom was a paediatric nurse for 20 years). The contractions started right away and were 5 minutes apart from the get-go.

I went in to the hospital right away, my hubby was speeding. They ended up sending me home to labour with orders to return when it gets too painful to handle. I stayed over at my in-laws (in town, closer to the hospital) and tried to sleep but the contractions didn’t change or let up, still 5 minutes apart. By midnight I had had enough and we went back in. My mother-in-law came with us. I thought for sure it would happen within minutes of going back to the hospital. HA, over 10 hours later…. and not a single break in between contractions! He was a little stubborn plus I really didn’t want him to come out without my mom being present. Her flight wasn’t due to land until the next morning, putting her at the hospital around 7:30am. I figured I could “hold on” until then…

Around 9am (12 hours after my water broke) the doctor was telling me to push and I was telling him that I couldn’t until my mom arrived. She finally arrived around 10am (strike at the airport) and I started pushing. I couldn’t have my first baby without my mommy there!!

My hubby’s mom was a huge help through the night there; she sat up with us the entire time. Stayed awake the entire night and when my mom arrived she went to leave the room because you can only have 2 people with you while you deliver but I asked if she could stay, she had been there all night with us. The doctor said she could because I was such a calm and easy patient. I’m so incredibly glad that Dorothy got to see her 11th grandchild arrive. It made me feel closer with her than just a girl from BC who had married her baby a couple years before. Now that she’s gone, it’s even more special to me. (This picture was taken in Atlanta, Georgia. Mom and Dad came with us for a Minister’s conference in 2000 as our babysitters, Q was nearly 2 and Em was a few months old)

There’s more to this incredible story about how my little Q came to be but I’ll save that for another post. He is a gift from God! I’ll have to tell you about the other babies some other night too. My hubby is heading to up state NY at 9am then he’s off to Ottawa until Saturday on business ~ it’s hubby time…