On the day that M was born...

Yesterday was my oldest daughters birthday. I have seen several blogs with the birth story of their child on their birthday, so I thought I would do that too. So here is the story of how M came to be:

My husband and I had been married for a year when we decided it was time to start adding to our family. Little did we know, that it would take us a year and a half, lots of prayers, fasting, tears, and some fertility meds to finally get pregnant. We were so excited when I finally got pregnant (and stayed pregnant, after we had already had one miscarriage). I was extremely tired my first trimester because I was working full-time, but I wasn't very sick. I don't get that terribly sick when I am pregnant...at least not throwing up sick, just tired, nauseous, and gaggy. We ended up moving when I was 5 months pregnant. It wasn't a bad move since I wasn't that big yet. We moved into an apartment that had no air conditioning, so it was a very long, hot, and uncomfortable summer. We moved again when I was 8 months pregnant, but just across town. I was having some serious Braxton-Hicks contractions, but everything was okay. I went in for my regularly scheduled doctor's appointment 3 days before my due date. I had been having problems the last couple of weeks with my blood pressure being too high. My blood pressure had gone up again, so the doctor and I decided it was time to get the baby out. He told me to come back to the hospital that night to induce me. I walked home crying. I was excited, scared, nervous, happy, terrified all at the same time. I tried to rest that day, but of course I was to emotional to get any rest. That night my husband and I went to the hospital. The doctor used cervidil to induce me since I was already starting to dialate on my own. My husband and I spent a lot of time wandering the halls and watching the little monitors they had me attached to. In the early hours of the next morning my water broke and things started happening. I don't really have painful contractions until my water breaks, so this felt like the beginning of my labor for me. I spent the next several hours trying to breathe through contractions (luckily I had a wonderful nurse who really helped me focus). Those birthing books make it seem so easy to relax, but that is SO not the case. I spent a lot of time holding on to the bed screaming. Finally I got to the point where I could start pushing. I was so excited because I had heard that pushing is the best part of labor where you can really take an active role in your delivery. I HATED PUSHING!!! It was horrible. My nurse kept counting and telling me to push, and I just couldn't catch my breath inbetween. I spent two hours pushing, with not a whole lot happening. My babies heart beat started dropping, and the doctor said we needed to get her out. So out came the forcepts...this was an absolutely horrifying sight since I was doing this all naturally. The doctor pulled, and I pushed, and my baby was born. I was so relieved! After 14 hours of labor my baby was finally here. I hear a lot of people talk about how their birthing experience was so spiritual. Mine really wasn't. I think if I had not been so tired and worn out it might have been. It was amazing though!
So that is the quick version of M's birth (minus all the gross details). I cannot believe I have been a mother for 6 years now. It has been an amazing journey. I never knew being a mother could be so hard and so wonderful all at the same time. I never realized how much your children are a part of you. M is truly my daughter. She loves the same things I do, she thinks the same way I do. If she is sad, I just KNOW why. I understand her, I get her. It is so fun to be her mother.