Bringing you here - Part I

As I write this you are now three months old and sleeping soundly on my chest - my sweet baby boy - Brett Henry. It has taken me this long to put into words the day of your birth, but if I wait much longer I am afraid the memory of the day you were born will fade and I don't want to lose a single minute of it even though much of the day was spent in a laboring haze. It was quite a day and we went through it together, you and me, with your Daddy by our side.

The anticipation of your birthday was almost too much for this mama to take. The physical discomforts from my body and the migraine headaches, the waiting, the noticing of every little thing leading up to a body about to give birth, the tenseness of having five other children who needed me...made me a little stressed those last few weeks and days. On the advice of your Daddy, who declared me too tense to give birth and told me to relax, I set out to relax the week before your due date.

Your sisters and I started out the week by putting school work aside and meeting friends for coffee. Just hanging out, relaxing on a beautiful spring day. We walked (of course to help get labor going), window shopped and took pictures of the girls and myself - big and pregnant with you. The day before, I lost my mucous plug so I knew if I could only relax, then maybe labor would get going and stay. I had days where contractions would come ALL DAY LONG, only to go away when I went to bed. Very, very frustrating....I just wanted to hold you in my arms and kiss your sweet cheeks.

The next day, Melissa and I went to a movie and ate huge cookies that were so yummy. The movie made me laugh and cry and that was actually a really good emotional release. Every day we tried to make it a relaxing day and I tried to enjoy the last days of being pregnant with you - although the day we planned to spend at the park, it rained - so instead we went for cupcakes! I was super good about not eating sweets all through my pregnancy hoping for a smaller baby this time around. I hardly had a mouthful the whole time and most of the time when I did try something sweet, it tasted terrible and I couldn't finish it. So to have a few sweets at the end, was really a treat and they finally tasted good!

The relaxing must have done the trick, as I woke up to my water breaking in bed on Friday, April 23rd, just 3 days before your due date. It was about 8am and I could hear the girls in the kitchen stirring around so I yelled for one of them to come help me as my pj bottoms were wet, but I hadn't felt a gush. I didn't want to get up and get my bed all wet if it did. Melissa heard me and came running in (there must have been some urgency in my voice!) - she grabbed me a pad and I was able to get up and save the bed. I called your Dad right after I got myself changed and told him he had to come home that my water had broke - he said he was on his way. I was so nervous and excited to finally be in labor although I wasn't having any contractions yet. I called my midwife, my friends Angie and Lynn, then I got settled on the birth ball in my room as the contractions started coming. My water has never broken on its own before so I knew you were a very strong baby!