Bragging Rights

Birthing stories are a mom's way of bragging. "Look what I went through so that I could be a mom, aren't I tough!" I am always amazed by how different every one's stories are, from the "I pushed twice and out they came" to the " I was in hard labor for 10 days and still got up and made breakfast the next day." I am also amazed by how different all my birth stories are. And since it it one of my sweet kido's birthdays today, I am telling hers.

There is a little pre-birth information that is pertinent here. This little one was the first child to be born after the trauma of giving birth to twins that were born 16 weeks early. She was a blessing from God (which means she was a surprise ^.^) conceived one year after that experience which made a 19 month spread between babies. The entire pregnancy was one moment of fear to the next. I did not want another preemie baby so every twinge was terror. So by the time we got to her birth date, I was relieved. This pregnancy was also the 2nd after a c-section. The twins were so small it didn't come into play, but this baby was supposed to be a 10lb-er and the doc was a little nervous (which he didn't tell me til after the big moment). We went in at 7am and was induced because they didn't want her to get much bigger and went into labor almost immediately. The guy who put in the epidural was really good and got it in in one shot and it did just what it was supposed to do. I don't like pain of any sort so going natural was totally out. Then we started pushing. I say we because this baby was a team effort. My sweetheart worked as hard as I did on this one. We pushed and pushed and this child would not come out. We tried every position possible to get this kid out. So lunch comes and goes and so does my modesty. I no longer cared who came in and out and what state of ugliness I was in. I just wanted to get her out. By that time the doc was talking c-section again and I was not interested. Finally he took a look, saw her and got out the suction cup. The little bugger had gotten her head stuck on my pubic bone. The doc dislodged her and out she squirted. I know all babies, especially your own are supposed to be cute. But this kid was uuuugly. She had been stuck for so long that her face was all swollen up and the suction had caused a cone head thing and my sweetheart and I looked at each other and said "isn't she beautiful." Now after all the life we had gone through together we both knew we were lying. But we loved her so much anyway. So after they cleaned her up and did all their little tests, they brought her back, 8 and a half pounds of her, and already the swelling was going down. She truly was going to be a beauty. She had dark brown eyes, black wavy hair and chocolate brown skin. Minute by minute, she became more and more lovely. And we still loved her as much as we did the first time we saw her.

She has grown up to be such a wonderful young lady. She is full of compassion and joy and the love of God. And she is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. I am very proud of my sweet girl.