Having two children already, I'm pretty comfortable with the whole giving birth process. My expectation is that this delivery will go similarly to the last two. And even if it doesn't, I've got an amazing team of people to support me.
But reading all of these birth stories online has made it very clear why mamas-to-be are freaked out! Most sound like they are Halloween specials! Not so, ladies. Not so! Having a baby can be a miraculously easy day.
So I wanted to share with you my stories...not too brag about my easy deliveries or make you think I'm Super-Mom, but just so the truth is out there. People do have easy deliveries!
Georgia's Birthday...
Georgia was born on what was to be my last day of work before maternity leave. I was 37, almost 38 weeks, pregnant. And to be completely honest, I wasn't ready. I got up for work and was rushing around, trying to get to a parent/teacher conference on time. Then my water broke.
Being a first-time mom and in denial, I wasn't convinced I was in labor. It wasn't time yet! Lesson #1 in Mommydom: Kids have their own agendas. I woke my husband, we called our moms, and decided we should go to the hospital. At first, I was calm. We packed up some essentials and the dogs (they were staying at my parents', not joining us in the delivery room). It wasn't until about two hours later that I started stressing we weren't at the hospital yet.
After we arrived at the hospital and they confirmed my water had broken (did they think I had just been peeing constantly for hours???), I was checked in.
And then we hung out. Since I wasn't having contractions, I was given pitocin to give the process a jump start. At first the contractions were no big deal. As soon as they became painful, I asked for an epidural and ceased texting my out-of-town siblings.
Everybody is different, and has a unique plan for their child's birth. Mine involved high-fiving modern medicine and decreasing pain. If your birth plan is different than mine, awesome! It'd be really boring to Google "birth stories" if we all had the same one.
The epidural allowed me to take a nap. Sometime in the day (probably after administering happy drugs), I was asked if I would mind if the medical students were present during the delivery. I had imagined it would mean one or two extra people. Maybe my memory betrays me, but I feel like there were a dozen of them. Considering I'm actually kind of shy, I'm shocked that I allowed it.
The actual delivery was short...there weren't hours of pushing, swearing, or snarling at my husband. Just 20 minutes and then our sweet baby arrived. She was tiny with great big eyes and insanely long eyelashes.
I was grateful at how easy the whole process had been (mostly for myself, but also for my sister who was also pregnant and due less than a month later). Honestly, that was it. I went into the hospital in the morning, had a baby in the afternoon, and hung out with my family until I was released to go home. And this was the more dramatic of my deliveries.
Cousins...born 2 weeks apart.
