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I had been on bed-rest for the last two months of my first pregnancy, it was horrible and I was just ready to be done with it and have my baby. My mother took me to my Dr. visit when we learned that I could finally take the I.V. out of my leg and be taken off of bed-rest. We went straight to my sisters house and told her of the news. I thought that I would go into labor the instant we took out the needle, but no not so much. I realize now that it would take some time for the medicine to exit my system.

adparams.getadspec(’c_billboard1′); HELAD_gen_google_custom(adparams, “c_billboard1″, “text_image”, “banner”, 300, 250); #ada1{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:16px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada1 a:link, #ada1 a:visited, #ada1 a:hover, #ada1 a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada1 div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada1 div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px } #ada{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:14px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada a:link, #ada a:visited, #ada a:hover, #ada a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px } My mother and I went home, as I lived with her at the time, thank goodness. We watched the God father, went for a walk and ate spaghetti, but no labor. My daughters father was on his way from Job Corps, some hours away, so he could be there for the birth, so I didn’t want it to happen with out him. Finally he got there, with his mother and sister, so we visited for a while before they left for home.

We decided to just go to bed and try to sleep since we didn’t really know when this whole thing would begin. So there we were in the bathroom brushing our teeth when I felt something run down my leg. For a moment I thought that it was just because of the pressure on my bladder, women who have been pregnant know what I mean. But my instinct, which is usually right, took over and I asked for my mother. She came in and stated it was defiantly time to go. So with a towel between my legs, we went to the car when I felt the first contraction. My mind started to race and fear kicked in “Oh my god this is going to hurt.”

When we got to the hospital we were let to a room and I was asked to change into a gown. The nurse then got a test strip to see if my water was indeed leaking. After confirming that my water was in fact leaking, I was then wheeled into the room where I was to give birth. To my surprise and relief they had a whirl pool bathtub. I knew that is exactly where I wanted to be. Contractions, I must say, weren’t at all like you see on T.V. I didn’t scream and my head didn’t spin around. I moaned through them as I was engulfed by the warm water and massaging bubbles.

My mother realized that she forgot her camera. I was dilated to 5 so we decided that she hat time to run home to get it. The father was tired from the drive so he went to lay down for a while, which was perfect as I just wanted to be alone. Soon the nurse came in to check me, I was dilated to 7 then. She said it will still be a while, and if I needed anything to pull the cord.

So as I sit in the whirlpool tub, trying to stay calm, I felt an incredible urge to push, ouch! This was starting to get worse now and seconds later the feeling came again, this time I couldn’t help it my body was bearing down. I grabbed the cord and began to pull as if my life depended on it. I also started yelling my daughter’s fathers name. By the time the nurse came in and helped me out of the tub I placed my hand between my legs as I felt like I was going to drop her out of me, which my dear readers was not far from the truth. I got to the bed just in time. They pushed my legs up to my chest and told me to push. There was dad with his hands in his pockets. I begged for juice or water, as my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth, out of fear I’m sure. I pushed I think three times, and yes folks at this point I did scream, the birth was all natural. Then they told me to stop, were they serious, the head was out, just pull I thought. Then finally another push was permitted. There she was, and in one breath, the pain was gone, contractions and all.

adparams.getadspec(’c_billboard1′); HELAD_gen_google_custom(adparams, “c_billboard1″, “text_image”, “banner”, 300, 250); #ada1{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:16px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada1 a:link, #ada1 a:visited, #ada1 a:hover, #ada1 a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada1 div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada1 div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px } #ada{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:14px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada a:link, #ada a:visited, #ada a:hover, #ada a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px }After the necessary process they brought my tiny, somewhat cone-head, beautiful baby to me, and placed her in my arms. Amazing, truly amazing. Seconds later my sister, who was not going to make it, came in to the room and to her amazement the job was done. Her first niece was here. Teary eyed she came to my side, then in walked my mother, just as talkative and ready to snap some pictures. Not aware of what happened, she looked over then looked again noticing that our miracle was here. “Oh shit, I missed” she said.

More tears and lots of hugs later, we just enjoyed the moment. Thinking now, years later (14 to be exact) that was one of the most precious moments in my memory as it is the last time my sister, our mother, myself, and my daughter were together, truly happy. Years go by and lives change, I will relish this special moment forever.

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