Wednesday was my due date. Christmas was 2 days later. When Wednesday came and went, I was resigned to being pregnant for the rest of my life. He was going to grow and thrive and attend college, all while in my womb. And Thursday was Christmas Eve, filled with family festivities, but still no sign of little Rocky. I guess that's good because I had time to clean and nap, but mostly clean, and not nap. During these couple days, I had one thing to keep me sane. Little Cavin, our nephew who has literally been there for every major event in CJ's and my relationship, said on Wednesday, "Rocky will be born in 2 days!" I said, "2 days? That's Christmas!" He said, "yep, that's when he will be born!" So I relied on Cavin's prediction to help me not go too crazy, because hey, the little guy proposed to me for CJ, he is pretty reliable! Christmas Eve, he said, "Rocky is coming tomorrow!!" It was getting spooky how adamant he was about Rocky's arrival date.
At home Christmas Eve night, after all the festivities, CJ and I decided to open gifts to each other because we weren't sure if the next day we would have time. Not because we felt like Rocky might show up, but because we had lots of Christmas plans that day, and as mentioned above, Rocky was going to be in the womb forever.
We went to bed around midnight. At about 1:30, I woke up to a strange feeling that lasted a few seconds. It didn't hurt necessarily, but I remember having the thought, "well that was new." And I got up to use the bathroom. While on my way there, my water broke. Again, in my mind, the thought, "huh, that was new." And the question, "was that my water breaking, or did I just lose all control of myself?"
After waiting just a few minutes, I was sure I was experiencing something close to what you see on TV as labor. CJ was up and ready in a flash, we were out the door in maybe ten minutes. We never even rehearsed it, beat that, Internet mom bloggers! After an icy but safe drive to the hospital, we were AT the hospital.
The rest is history and Rocky WILL be attending college outside of the womb.
Jk jk, I'll add a few more details :)
We got checked in and after the nurse determined my water had really broken, I was admitted and we got to stay. None of that, "you may have a while so why don't you go home" poop that I hear happens so much. My contractions were about 5 min apart. After feeling several of those lovely things, I was ready for an epidural. Once that was in, I was on cloud 9. No pain, no gain is false, people. What would I really gain from continuing to feel contraction pain other than the desire that Rocky be an only child, I ask you?
I continued "laboring" until around 11 the next morning, when it felt like the magical epidural wasn't being so magical anymore. Apparently the monitor thingy was picking up on things because the nurse came and checked me right as I called her and I was dilated to a ten. If you are like my brother, Gabe, you have no idea what that means. I'll save you the trouble (and horror) of looking that up. It just means you're ready to push that baby outta there.
Push, I did, for almost two hours. During that time, my thoughts were, "I'm so out of shape. I regret all those non-workout naps"
On a more serious note, Rocky wasn't coming out. And I was pushing so hard I felt like my head was going to explode. All that time I could hear his little heartbeat on the monitor. It was fluctuating so much, sometimes it was dangerously slow, other times dangerously fast. And I prayed. I prayed, "please Father, help me get my baby out and keep him safe. Give him strength. Give me strength."
By the end of those couple hours, the doc determined I needed help getting him out, and so he plundered him out. Ever seen a toilet plunger? Yeah, it did kind of look like those. And finally little Rocky was out. But he was lifeless, very limp. And a team of doctors had come in to revive him. CJ kept watch as the doctors worked fast to clear his tiny lungs and I was being stitched up. I could fully feel things at this point, but I didn't care, my baby was a few feet away from me fighting for life. Again, more prayers, keep him safe, give him strength.
After what felt like way too long, Rocky was responding and a nurse brought him to me for just a few brief moments before they had to take him to the nicu. He was so tiny, his little limbs were thin and delicate, but also VERY strong. I looked at him and tried to let it wash over me that this was our little boy we had waited for. And then they took him away. He was gone for an hour before I knew if he was okay. Finally a nurse came and I asked her how he was doing. He was okay! He was doing well and they were going to bring him to me soon! Best news I've ever received in my entire life. After that, my little rockstar continued to get stronger and stronger.
Finally he was brought back to me and we got to bond. Which was basically his little mouth baby-birding it and me trying to feed him for the first time. But oh my goodness, how I loved this tiny little being. He wasn't very big, and his little shoulder blades were clearly visible as he had zero fat to cover them. He was so beautiful, his face had these tiny little features, I couldn't believe he was ours. I still can't sometimes to this day. He's been flourishing and is already about 12 lbs, almost twice his birth weight. He is learning so much already and responding to things in the cutest ways. I love when he gets so excited his little legs just kick kick kick KICK!! He already has a lil double chin and some chunky cheeks too, and he smiles and coos, it's the cutest thing I've ever seen/heard. Needless to say C.J. and I are deeply in love.
Babies are amazing and when a four, almost five-year-old speaks, listen up!!
Our little 6 lb 7 oz, 21 inch baby boy :)