Eddie's Birth Story - Part I

I have a confession. While I was pregnant, I devoured women's birth stories. They are so emotional and powerful and give a glimpse into an experience that can't be fully comprehended until you're in it yourself.

(Some of my favorites are here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

I now humbly add mine to the bunch...

(unknowingly taking my last belly shot)

I awoke the morning of Eddie's birth after a rough night of sleep. Although Ed and I had an early and busy Saturday planned - full of final pre-baby errands - I knew I needed to stay in bed and rest a bit longer. In an attempt to revise our schedule for the day, we decided Ed would go the gym first and then we'd head out.

That's how I found myself alone when it all began.

Ed hadn't been out the door for 15 minutes before I made my way into the living room and then felt compelled to do a little stretching and pushups. (Strange, I know. And I'd probably leave that detail out if Ed didn't insist on including it every time he told the story.) So there I was watching Barefoot Contessa on TV and doing pregnant pushups in my undies.

A few minutes later, at about 9:00 am, I stood up and instantly felt a gush between my legs. Oh, I wish I could have seen my face. Because in that moment there was no doubt in my mind what was happening.

For a few minutes, I debated what to do and chose not to text Ed right away. Not only did I want him to be able to finish his workout, but I was also happy to savor the moment by myself for a bit. I tried to relax in the peace and quiet and wrap my mind around what was about to take place.

It turns out my body had different plans. Relaxing wasn't in the cards. Almost immediately after my water broke, I began having period-like cramps that confirmed I really was going into labor. They steadily grew stronger and by 10:00 am, when I heard Ed's key in the door, I was ready for him to be by my side. My eyes welled up with tears as I announced to him that we'd have to scrap our plans for the day because our baby was coming. He looked stunned for a minute, but quickly jumped into action. "We've got this. We're ready."

So we got moving.

Now, I wasn't armed with a strict birth plan. I planned to deliver in a hospital, hoped for a vaginal birth and figured I'd eventually want an epidural. The one plan I did have was to do as much of the early labor work as possible at home and go as long as I could without pain medication. Since we live only four blocks from our hospital, this seemed reasonable. But with my water broken, my OB had different plans and wanted to monitor the baby. She suggested we arrive at the hospital by 1:00 pm. I was disappointed to have to head in so soon, but didn't know at that point that I wouldn't have made it much longer at home anyway.

Once this plan was in place, the calls and texts to our family and friends began. My sister-in-law started bawling. My mom (who doesn't curse) shouted over the phone from Ohio: "Are you fucking kidding me?!" For the next couple of hours, Ed and I were both talkative, nervous, excited and jittery. Even so, all the buzzing around couldn't mask the fact that my contractions were coming much more intensely and regularly. By the time we had showered and finished packing our bags, I was eager to leave our apartment. I knew my labor was progressing quickly and was feeling more and more uncomfortable.

Finally, at 12:30 pm, we walked out the door for the last time as a family of 2...