I probably had the best pregnancy ever. I was fit and able to stay active (I still get made fun of by my coworkers for being the bike-riding pregnant lady), and I felt good all around. Except...dun dun duuuuun...lurking in the deep pockets of my soul was a rigid fear of that whole "giving birth" scene. I was freaked out!! I prayed a lot for help but didn't seem to be calming down much...yet the "due date" was looming nearer.
On September 23rd I was about to shower when I suddenly felt something funny and then liquid started trickling down my leg. Commence: super ultimate freak-out panic mode. I started shaking and hyperventilating, worrying that my baby was on his way! Quickly and clumsily I showered and then picked up Sebasthian from work. I told him that I wasn't sure, but maybe my water had broke? I hadn't felt any contractions, so I didn't want to go to the hospital, but he insisted that we should go "just in case". And the next morning, our son was born! yay! The end.
Okay, just kidding. Actually, it turns out that I must've just peed myself or something (lol!), because baby was still happy and swimming around in there. But it WAS a good experience that helped me get over my fear. The nurses were nice and the thrill of it was kind-of fun :)
The next couple of weeks passed uneventfully, but I began to grow pretty excited about meeting my little man. Every day Sebasthian would say: "We could be parents today!!" and I agreed with him. One Monday morning he said it and I said "No, I think he's sticking this one out. I don't feel him doing much." haha "Eat your words, Elysha!" Within the hour I was cleaning the whole house spotlessly with an energy no java-holic has ever seen. Every five minutes I would get cramps and then they would go away after about 30-45 seconds. I wasn't sure what was going on so I called up my good friend Melissa and we went for a walk for an hour or so. Well, the cramps didn't subside so that was good and stuff.
I made lunch for Sebasthian and when he came home I calmly told him that I thought I was in labor. He freaked out a little. Not because of having a baby, but because I was so ridiculously cool about it. I'm always cool so he should have just caught on.
We decided he should go to work, since labor usually takes awhile anyways. After he left I was curious how long I should wait. So I called the Doctor. They told me I had to go in. Nooo, I wanted to labor at home. I resisted, but eventually called my awesome neighbor, Jacquie, to see if I could get a ride to the Doctor. Once there, I waited. and waited. and waited. Not unusual for a Doctor's office, but REALLY? I could've popped out a baby any minute! ...or in a few hours, at least. Apparently the Doctor had needed to go to the hospital to deliver or something (again, really? aren't I top priority? ;) ) So they commanded that I go there to get checked. I did not just misuse the word "commanded", as I kept trying to tell them I didn't need to go. I was a little miffed. I absolutely did not want to go to the hospital just to get sent home.
Jacquie was super wonderful and took me to the hospital, and I called Sebasthian and told him to leave work...hopefully this wasn't a false alarm. I kept telling everyone that I didn't know why I had to be there, I didn't feel like I was in labor. Well, the nurse checked me when I arrived at about 5:30 and I was dilated to a 3-4. So they had Sebasthian walk around with me and we went to the cafeteria and ate. (Note to self: this is a bad idea when you're in labor. Never again.) After half an hour I was at a 5, so they decided to keep me. I was so mad that I didn't get my "Pinterest" photo of us leaving with our bags for the hospital. haha. But at least we got some when I was admitted:
The anesthesiologist was busy in surgery so I really got to spend some quality time with my contractions.
I wouldn't let Sebasthian take pictures of me in pain (don't need to remember that!) so these don't really fit the story well. haha
Luckily we got to watch "Family Feud" while we waited it out :)
Finally the epidural came (yay!) when I was dilated to a 7, and then about 20 minutes later I had to PUSH. yuck. I hated pushing. About halfway through I asked them for a c-section. They kind-of laughed at me and said I just had to do it. Fine. I started pushing at midnight and an hour and 43 minutes later....
Wahoo!! I'm a mom!
And he's a dad!
and he's a boy without a name...
So we'd been struggling over the past nine months to find a name. Sure enough, we still couldn't decide at the hospital. We were about to leave without one and mail it in when we decided, when the insurance lady came and told us we had to have it before we left. We were leaving in an hour.
Sebasthian brought up the name "Benjamin" and although we'd never considered it we thought it was a fitting, strong name. I only agreed to it if we could call him "Benji". So there we have it: Benjamin Thomas, born October 8th at 7 lb 9 oz.
And isn't he the cutest?
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