...Elie was born! It really seems like last week, yet at the same time it feels like he has always been a part of our family. It's hard to imagine our life without him.
I have been meaning to tell the story of how he was born, almost on the side of the road-- REALLY! So here goes...
About five days before he was born, I was lying down to go to sleep when I started feel some contractions and my belly getting really hard. My heart started racing as I thought, "This is it!" So I paced around getting really nervous wondering whether or not to call my midwife. My concern was that my labor with Asher was only 4 1/2 hours which meant more than likely my labor would be half that this time around, plus we had a toddler to worry about. So I called my midwife and she told me to head to the hospital. I called our babysitter, Megan to stay with Asher.
Yeah, it was a false alarm. I was so thrown off because I never had any braxton hicks contractions (fake contractions) with Asher. Over the next couple of days I was getting some pretty strong braxton hicks contractions sporadically. Early Tuesday morning they were getting even stronger and more frequent. I thought for sure, "This is it!" Fortunately my mom was here staying with us at that point so I didn't have to worry about Asher. We headed to the hospital again. Of course on our way there my contractions tapered off. I was getting frustrated and feeling really stupid for going to the hospital TWICE, and feeling bad that Moises had missed an important meeting. I was just so worried about getting to the hospital on time.
All day Wednesday I was getting inconsistent contractions so strong that I had to stop what I was doing and take deep breaths. That night Moises and I went on a date to a really nice dinner. We contemplated going to a movie after but I was too tired and thought I really should get some rest.
That night at about 11:45 p.m. I was woken up by a massive contraction and my water breaking. I flew out of bed so fast and yelled to Moises, "My water just broke! Let's go!" I called my midwife's answering service right away. As I was brushing my teeth I got another contraction. I stopped to crouch down to the floor for it to pass. As I was heading down the hallway to tell my mom we were leaving to the hospital, I crouched down to the floor again squeezing the banister railing to get through another contraction.
On the way to the hospital I had my phone out expecting my midwife to call me back. With every contraction in the car all I could do was squeeze my phone so hard and pressing my face and whole body up against the car door. As we are about 3/4 of the way there I had the uncontrollable feeling to start pushing. As I'm pushing I feel his head crowning. I yell to Moises, "Oh my G-d, I feel him crowning!"
We pull up to the ER and Moises grabs a wheel chair from the doorway to wheel me in. Moises tells the ladies at reception we are headed up to the birthing unit. They ask who our doctor is and if they are expecting me. As I'm having another contraction I yell, "Oh my G-d, I have to push! Just go," as my water continued to gush all over their floor. I remember two elderly women staring at us with their jaws dropped to the floor and eyes like saucers.
We get up to the fifth floor and they rush me into a room, get me on a bed all while trying to get a gown and monitors on me. As the head nurse goes to measure how far I have dilated she yells, "SHE'S CROWNING! IS THERE A DOCTOR AROUND?!" And then I push. She told me to push a little less forceful next time. Moments later, I push again trying to keep it more controlled and right then, I feel our baby being born and his beautiful cry! They wrap him in warm towels and hand him to me right away and I say with tears streaming, "Hi baby, I love you!" And I hug and kiss Moises and tell him I love him.
The time was 12:28 a.m. My labor was 45 minutes long.
