Yesterday, I shared my second Million Moms post. It has been many years since I was in a hospital delivering a baby, but in writing this post this week, I think I finally found closure. And peace.
Did your child’s birth go the way you hoped it would?
The moment that I held my oldest daughter for the first time exceeded all of my expectations. I was overflowing with love for the tiny infant in my arms. It’s a good thing that I loved her so much, because my labor and delivery were not what I had hoped for, and I was left grumbling and feeling irritated for hours after she was born.
Image of my niece on her birth day, taken by her favorite Aunt
Labor started pretty normally for my first. My water broke early the morning of my due date. I calmly called the doctor and headed to the hospital. I asked for an epidural shortly after I was checked into the hospital and settled into the bed while my husband napped.
“You mean this isn’t normal?”
Not knowing much about labor and delivery routines, I didn’t realize that there should have been a nurse checking in on me regularly while I waited. When one finally came in, I mentioned to her that I could feel everything on my left side, and I was extra numb on my right. It was rather uncomfortable.
The nurse left to find the anesthesiologist, who came in to give me another dose of anesthesia. I would have felt much better had it not been for the fact that the drugs made me nauseous. He left and I tried to relax.
Shortly after the anesthesiologist left, a new nurse came on duty. She asked me how far along I was the last time the previous nurse had checked me. I told her that I had only been checked once – when I had been admitted to the hospital hours before.
With a shocked look on her face, the nurse said, “Well, let me check your progress.” To my surprise, she whipped away from me and started preparing for delivery. The baby’s head was already crowning….
Finish reading my story on ABC News’ Million Moms Challenge.
When you comment on my post over there, you will not only make me smile, but you will be entered to win some amazing prizes (an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and a $50 donation in your name to Global Giving). Plus, you too can become a part of the Million Mom’s Challenge – a call to make healthy pregnancies, safe births, and children who survive and thrive a basic right around the world. You don’t need to be a mom to help a mom. You just need to be one in a million.
If they can find 100,000 people to sign on to the Million Moms Challenge, Johnson & Johnson will donate a total of $100,000 to several of the biggest NGOs helping moms and babies throughout the world.
Comments are closed to encourage readers to comment on the full “Perfect Delivery” story.
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