Dear Baby Jane: On the Night You Were Born

My dearest Baby Jane,

Today, all of the mommies are celebrating the day our lives forever changed when we welcomed our babies into this big, beautiful world. November 21, 2011 – it’s a day I will always remember, and it is a story I love to tell. It is, in fact, a love story.  317793_10150419941154427_690674426_8448300_2072842009_n

Once upon a time, in a land filled with moss covered trees and wrought iron fences draped in glistening beads, there was a soon to be mommy and daddy waiting patiently for their baby to make its way into this special land. You see, the baby was five days late to arrive. Each morning the mommy would wake up wondering if today would be the day she would hold her baby in her arms. She tried not to be impatient but rather to thank God for giving her one more day to spend together, just her and the baby.

On a beautiful Sunday morning, the mommy and daddy woke up and decided to spend the day walking until they could walk no more to encourage the baby to join them on their journey. They watched the Saints play and ate spicy Popeye’s chicken hoping that would help. But Baby was just not ready. At the very end of what had been a long day, the mommy and daddy took one last walk to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for dinner. Just as they returned home, something exciting happened!

Baby Jane, the mommy’s water broke. It was happening! The mommy wanted to meet her baby looking nice, so she took a shower and washed and dried her hair. About half way through straightening it, the mommy noticed her contractions were getting increasingly more intense. Whew! The mommy hurried and applied her makeup, and the second she was done, she knew she couldn’t wait any longer – they needed to get to the hospital!

378645_10150419941789427_690674426_8448313_399356548_nThe daddy put the mommy in the car and drove very carefully to East Jefferson General Hospital. He stopped at every yellow light and drove just the right speed despite the mommy begging him to go faster. The mommy and daddy hadn’t practiced getting to the emergency room, so when they arrived at the hospital, they got a little lost! The mommy wanted an epidural so badly to make the pain go away so every minute seemed like a lifetime!

By around 8:30 on that exciting evening, the mommy had been checked into labor and delivery and was 5 centimeters dilated. She waited 30 minutes for the epidural to be administered, and when it was, she felt so much relief. By 9:15 the mommy’s family had arrived. She spent time talking with them and enjoying their company. The mommy thought she would have hours to do the last bit of relaxing she would have for a while. She had brought three months of In Style magazines to read. The baby had other plans, though! In just an hour’s time, the mommy had progressed to 6 centimeters and could tell things were changing.

There was no time for relaxing after all! At 10:30, the mommy was 9 cm and the nurses began to teach her how to push. By 12:15, the mommy 380909_10150419942044427_690674426_8448320_1617716371_nwas complete, and she pushed through three contractions with the nurses. Her doctor arrived a few minutes later to help her push through two more contractions. Just before the next push he said “Let’s meet this baby.” It was a surreal moment. In just seconds the mommy was going to push for the last time and meet her baby!

The mommy took one more deep breath and with a final push the baby made its way into the world. It was a moment that fairy tales are made of. To see the baby for the first time took the mommy’s breath away. The daddy said, “So…  what is it?,” and the nurse, nurse’s aid, and Dr. Champlin called out in unison, “It’s a girl!!!” The mommy and daddy were speechless. Never in their lives had they been more in love. In love with each other and with the baby!

Jane, you may be wondering why Mommy said this was a love story. It is because this was the story of the night you were born. It is the story of when I first believed in love at first sight. From the moment you were placed in my arms, and I looked into your eyes, I knew I felt a love in my heart like none I had ever felt. And when your Daddy held you for the first time, I fell more in love with him than I ever thought possible. You are the one Jane. You are the one who makes our days brighter and our nights longer as we are eager for the sun to come up so we can hold you in our arms again.

Like all love stories, this one ends the same.  The mommy and the daddy and Sweet Baby Jane lived happily ever after.

For more about our journey to meeting Jane, you can read the weekly letters I wrote to her HERE.

Celebrate Your Birth Story. What’s Yours?

birth-story

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