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Then we went home one last time to make sure we had everything for the hospital and to make coffee for my grandparents (I already know what coffee smells like since Mommy and Daddy brew it a lot at home). They had a quick cup just in case it was a long night. We headed out all together to Fairfax; Daddy drove us to make sure we could find our way easily, since Granddad and Grandma O don't live here (yet). But I hope I can help convince them to move closer!! When we got to the hospital, the room where Mommy was supposed to sleep wasn't quite ready yet, so we all spent time together in the lobby of the Center for Women and Children. When we got to Mommy's room, the nurses and doctors tried to make her comfortable in the bed, but I knew it wasn't as cozy as she would have liked it. But she was still happy, 'cause she knew I would be coming to meet her soon. Daddy and Granddad watched the Nationals game (only their second one ever) while Mommy and Grandma talked about how things were different today than when Mommy was born. I'm not sure if they were nervous or just excited, but I could tell that everyone was getting ready for me. Mom and I were on our own until Daddy, Grandma and Granddad O arrived about 9:00 am. It was nice to have the quiet time with Mommy, but I think she was kind of uncomfortable and ready for things to start happening. One of Mommy's helpers--called a "doula"--arrived a little later and started to help Mommy by telling her how to breathe through the "contractions" and massaging and putting pressure on her back. I think Mommy liked it. It felt kind of funny to me, though. Everyone helped Mommy to relax and remain calm. The doula had her sit on a "birth ball" to help me work my way toward the door, so to speak. I could feel Mommy's tummy start to push on me a good bit now. I had the sense that something big was about to happen. Then the doctor came in and asked how Mommy and I were doing. They had been monitoring my heartbeat and the contractions in Mommys tummy for a while. Since everything was normal, and Mommy had "dilated to 1 cm with 80% effacement" (whatever THAT means), they let her keep "laboring" for a while more. After about two more hours of this, at 1:30, the doctor came back in to give Mommy a drip of something to help her tummy push me a bit harder. It sounded like it was going to hurt me, but it didn't really affect me so much. I think it was beginning to hurt Mommy a lot more. So, at about 3:00, another doctor came in to give her something called an "epidural." That put both of us a little more at ease, and I could hear her telling everyone that she didn't feel the contractions nearly as strongly as before. That gave her the confidence to keep pushing when the doctor and nurse told her to and not hurt so much. Each time there was a contraction, I could hear this whooshing sound and things got a little tight around me. I could feel Mommy's intense concentration and everyone's encouragement outside. I knew I was getting close to finally meeting my parents and all the wonderful people that were helping me to be born. It was so exciting! The contractions kept coming, more and more closely and evenly. Daddy and his Daddy left the room at about 5:15 to take a break--Daddy had been in the room since 9:00--and got something to eat. At 5:30, Aunt Traci called him on his cell phone to tell him that Mommy was at "10 centimeters" (whatever THAT means). You could hear the shock in Daddy's voice from across the room...he was getting very excited to meet me! I was so happy that the time was almost here... Daddy asked everyone to step out of the room so that he, Aunt Traci, and the doulas could concentrate on bringing me into the world. The OB and nurse worked carefully to make Mommy and me comfortable and then, with each contraction, they coached her on when to push. After about 20 minutes, things started to get a little bit brighter (it's dark inside!), and only a few minutes later, I was able to see. At 6:10 PM, the OB picked me up and plopped me on Mommy's belly. She laughed with glee and I could hear everyone congratulating Mommy and Daddy on my arrival. I was cold, wet, and a bit uncomfortable, to be honest, but it was so awesome to see the outside for the first time that I didn't even care. Everything was a bit blurry, but I recognized Mommy and Daddy's voices from our many nights together on the couch at home... Let's just say that our time in the hospital was not the most enjoyable part of my (short) life. For some reason, they kept the place freezing, starved Mommy most of the time, and kept trying to make me eat formula. But beyond that, it was pretty good. Daddy stayed with us on both nights and helped take care of us. I slept in Daddy's arms the first night, on a pull-out chair/bed. I learned to calm down by sucking on his finger (something everyone else disapproves of, but it worked for us that night). I was really enjoying getting to know my parents, but we kept getting interrupted by doctors and nurses coming in to weigh me, take my blood pressure, temperature, and so on. They also gave me a hearing test, took blood, and did lots of other poking and prodding. This made Mommy upset, but Daddy tried to keep her calm and told her that these things were necessary to ensure I'm healthy--which it turns out I am. My APGAR score was 8.9 when I was born. I think that's good.
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