Conor's birthday: Cindy's version

(Cindy Here) I've got 10 minutes before it's time to feed Conor but you'd never know it because I bet if I went to his crib he'd have his little hands crammed in his mouth: baby sign language for "feed me!"
Anyway, here's my version of Conor's arrival. I was so looking forward to the start of maternity leave. Only two more days of work to go, a jury duty summons and some continuing ed, which still left me with 2 whole weeks of much anticipated nesting, cleaning house for guests and maybe just a little playing texttwist( bad online habit). Conor had a different plan in mind! One morning I was lying in bed when my water broke. Still in denial, I called Kaiser while I sat in the bathroom and Henri raced around getting ready. Once we realized we were headed for the hospital, we threw some clothes in a bag, a couple of books and the camera. I felt fine except for some weird back pain every now and then--was that what contractions were like? (story continues...). As we got onto the freeway I remembered some advice from the birthing class: don't forget mouthwash b/c the last things ladies in labor want is a support person with bad breath! I look at my husband who is eating a piece of chicken garlic pizza that I'd brought home from work the night before! To his credit though, I never once smelled that pizza once I got into the delivery room. Thanks, honey.
The ride to the hospital was long--my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and with each one I was gripping the seat belt. Once we got to the hospital, a nice staff person in Emergency showed me how to get to the labor and delivery triage room. At this point I could barely walk! They gave me some gowns and booties to change into and showed me the bathroom but once I was in there, all I could do was cry from the pain. I don't know how I changed I just remember feeling so silly crying. That was the first contraction where it felt like I had to push. I limped back out where the nurse checked me and said I was 10 cm dilated! They got ready to wheel me over the delivery room and from that moment I don't think I ever once opened my eyes. There was a couple in the next bed over who wished me luck through the curtain divider. (They recognized me a couple of days later at one of our doctor's appointments! ) I remember when Henri got there, when the baby's head was out and the next thing I knew Conor was born! He was so red! They let me hold him for a while and Henri cut the cord. I was so glad it was over! I was really fortunate, I only had contractions for an hour and a half. Even once we got into our hospital room I was surprised that I felt pretty good. We spent the rest of the day calling friends and relatives, taking pictures of Conor, and learning very quickly how to change his diaper! Ok, gotta go feed baby.

-Cindy