Happy Birthday Peter!

Today is the big day. At this time, one year ago...I was trying to sleep actually, after a very exhausting night.

It was cold and ice was predicted that Friday. I was scheduled to be induced on Monday. Our neighbors were going to be out of town. Who cares about the neighbors? We did. If the baby came, they were second on our very short list of people to call to watch Rebekah. So we made the difficult decision to call William's parents and request they drive up on Fri.

His parents are GREAT people and very willingly did so. They arrived Fri evening if I recall. Saturday we all woke up and puttered around the house. I had been having contractions on and off but nothing regular or even remotely painful. At the very most, some of them had been a tad uncomfortable.

I still hadn't bought a coming home outfit for the baby. (We didn't officially know whether it was a boy or girl...although we had a hunch it was a boy from one of the ultrasounds. The doctor slipped!) We decided to hit the mall and do a little shopping. We ended up in JC Penney's in the midst of a big sale. I bought a few outfits, and so did William's mom (lovingly referred to as MIL - short for "mother-in-law").

At JC Penney's there was a kindly elderly woman looking for an outfit for someone she knew. She stopped me and asked me what size did I think she should buy...0-3 or "newborn". I gave my opinion (the "newborn" size was for up to 8 lbs...for a normal baby that won't last long!!), and then she asked me how far along I was. I told her I'd have the baby any day, and she patted my belly. I don't really remember what she said...I just remember thinking OF COURSE she patted my belly. I had made it up to that point without any unwanted belly-pats. My MIL had even behaved herself. (She was one of the worse offenders when I was pg. with Rebekah!) The irony of the entire situation was not lost on me.

We went home and I took a nice nap. I can recall wanting to sleep more but forced myself to get up. I felt like a bad hostess and didn't want to spend too much time sleeping. (I regret this decision...LOL! Lesson learned to listen to my body a little closer!)

I felt very much like a watched pot. It felt like all eyes were on me, watching my every move. It was very stifling for me so I came up with a semi-secret signal for William to notify him the start and stop of contractions. It was his job to check to see if there was any regularity to them. I would either tap his knee or squeeze his hand. That evening we were all curled up on the couch watching "Transformers". I had received it for Christmas. (If you haven't seen it and are a nerd like me you'll love it!) I was exhausted and considering going to bed. William's parents fell asleep on the couch about 5 minutes into the movie! Rebekah was safely tucked into bed. It was this point in time I realized my contractions were strong enough that I could not sleep through them.

I didn't want to go to the hospital too early, because I didn't want to be sent home. I didn't want to wait too long and end up having the baby in the car. The hospital was approximately 30 minutes away. Roads were in good condition, so no worries there. (The ice never materialized.) I kept telling myself if I got to the point that I couldn't talk, I should probably head to the hospital.

Around 11:00 I called my doctor. I could not for the life of me remember when the rule of thumb was to go to the hospital. I tried googling it, but didn't find anything concrete. So I called my doctor. He told me to give it 30 min, and if the contractions intensified, to go ahead and go to the hospital. It took me longer than 30 min to decide whether or not that was the case. Around midnight, I could no longer talk through my contractions. We woke the ILs and told them we were going to the hospital.

I arrived at the hospital around 1:00 AM. They checked us in rather promptly and checked me out. The contractions were starting to get faster and harder. As soon as I got into a birthing room I began begging for an epidural! Every time that nurse walked in I asked about it. I asked the doctor on call as well. I believe the nurse was thoroughly annoyed with me.

Finally, the epidural doctor showed up. While I was getting my epidural my OB walked in to check me. The epidural was immediate relief for me. William says it was quite visible in my face the difference! My OB then checked me after my epidural and said "Ready to push?"

What? Already?

Peter Daniel was born at 4:14 AM on Jan. 27th. He weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and 19.5 inches long. It was a quiet, picture-less birth. We had left our bag in the car, unsure of what to expect. (If we have more children, I will not ever make that mistake again!) No one answered the phone when we called to tell people the good news. I did text my friend, who ended up being the first to know because she doesn't sleep much anyway!

I slept until about 6:30 AM or so, but it was a restless sleep. I kept waking up, wondering if Peter was OK. (He was across the room in the warmer.) William napped in the chair next to me, and I woke him several times to walk over there and check to make sure Peter was still breathing!

Happy birthday my sweet little boy. You came into this world quietly, but you certainly have not remained that way. What a wild year! You certainly keep me on my toes, and I look forward to many more years of that!