Jonathan leaned over to kiss me goodbye this morning, and I apparently turned to him and said, “I’m grumpy!” He laughed and inquired as to the cause of my grumpiness. In my most spoiled little girl voice, I responded, “I’m DONE with this pregnancy!” I don’t recall the incident, but he retold the story fondly. I guess I had made up my mind that the baby would come that day, so I shouldn’t have been as awe-struck as I was when I found out I would, in fact, be induced that morning. My mom and I went to my non-stress test in the morning planning to get some shopping down afterwards. Instead, we discovered that my amniotic fluid had dropped significantly low, and I had to deliver as soon as possible. I remember sitting next to the nurse’s station, calmly filling out paperwork and texting Jonathan to drive safely, thinking to myself that this was nothing like the movies! It was so anti-climatic in the surrealism, I don’t think I realized I was going into labor until he was almost out! They started me on pitocin and antibiotics soon after, and then the doctor came to break my water. I had so little fluid left they weren’t even sure it had been successful, but contractions started shortly after. Jonathan and my mom were champs! I had set a goal to deliver Grant completely naturally, without any pain medications. I couldn’t have done it without them! I don’t think I can fully appreciate what their experience was, but it seems that I offered some afternoon entertainment for them. At one point, in response to Jonathan’s typical attempts to lighten the mood with humor, I turned to him and in slow motion breathed out “You-----Are----Not----Funny!” Another time, between contractions, Jonathan and Mom started talking and laughing while I attempted to relax. I got upset that they were distracting me from my happy place and said, “You’re ffffff......” A contraction started and I never finished my statement, but they both thought I was going to swear!!!! I was actually considering firing them both, but had thought better of it! :-) After 2 hours of laboring and an hour of pushing, Grant finally entered the world a healthy, hearty boy! He was 8 lbs 8oz, 19 inches, and perfect in every way! I unfortunately didn’t get to embrace him the way I had always imagined, because immediately after birthing him I had some trauma that required an additional doctor’s assistance, and I was so completely out of it from loss of blood that I still don’t really know what was going on. Fortunately, everything got worked out and both Grant and I were eventually able to be joined and begin our journey as mother and son. I’m a mom!!!
Jonathan came half-way around the hospital room curtain wearing one of his addicting mischievous grins. Something was up his sleeve! He played coy for a bit, trying to get me to guess what was behind door #3. Due to my failure to guess or his pure excitement, he soon revealed Baby Bear, a smartly dressed teddy in a handsome blue and brown argyle sweater vest from Build-a-Bear Workshop. Jonathan had gone and made a bear just for Grant! He gleefully explained the process of choosing the bear’s heart, getting it stuffed to just the right fluffiness, and even signing off on the Bear’s Birth Certificate. It was absolutely adorable, and so fun to see him create a very unique gift for our little Bear.
