Saturday, December 22, 2007

The birth story - part 1

It was nearly one week ago, last Saturday at midnight to be precise, while I was busy playing an exciting game of Civ IV on the computer, that I heard Lucy exclaim from upstairs, "Honey, I think my bag of waters is leaking."

"Are you sure?" I yelled up the stairs. "Well, I could have peed myself in my sleep, I'm not sure," she responded. Minutes later the first gush gushed and we knew for sure.

We should have known things were about to begin. Earlier that day, while trying to relax - Lucy was still on modified bed rest - she decided that she needed to put together the baby's cosleeper in his bedroom, organize the baby's clothing, sheets, etc, and basically busy herself with picking up the house. That was the first clue - a heightened nesting instinct. That evening, we watched the movie "Elf." Very funny and a little touching, but not one of your more heart wrenching films starring Will Ferrell. Anyway, instead of laughing, Lucy cried during it. Clue #2 - heightened emotions. But in honesty we both missed these clues, so when her water broke, we were both in a bit of shock.

A quick call to the midwife and doula and we set a plan to show up at the hospital the next morning if Lucy was not already in active labor. I proceeded to finish packing the birth bag which was nearly complete, just threw in some toiletries and clementine oranges. I had had a hunch that things were becoming a little imminent so I had already packed most of the clothes for Lucy, Sam and myself as well as snacks and labor relief items.

Lucy was having some contractions that were stronger than the previous week's, and they kept her up for several hours. I knew I would need my rest to be ready for the next day, so I left my wife "laboring" downstairs while I went up to bed. I slept like a log. Lucy's contractions continued for several hours before subsiding around 4 am allowing her to catch a little shut eye as well.

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