Where does all the time go?

So, considering it is Riley's birthday tomorrow, it is time for the obligatory "I can't believe how old my kid has gotten" blog. Sit back and enjoy my musings on my child and the last six years of his life!

6 years ago right now I was at the doctor's office 10 days away from my due date. When I was about 5 months pregnant I declared that I was going to have the baby on May 3, not May 13 when I was due. I also had my last final of the semester later that same day. Anyway, after the doctor's office I made my way to work. I was taking off work a little early that day so that I could drive to school with a little time to study a bit more and then take my final. About 3:30 pm (1/2 before I was supposed to leave work) I had my first contraction. I left work at 4:00 and drove to school, my contractions seemed to be regular, but were fairly far apart so I wasn't worried. I studied and then took my final all while I was in labor. At this point in the story most people interject with "Are you nuts?!?" but, in my defense, it was my last final of the semester and I really wanted to finish up before I had the baby, besides, my water hadn't broken yet or anything. Anyway, I got an "A" on my final and everything!

So, now that the test is over I feel like it's a safe time to call my mom and tell her that I'm in labor since I'm heading home anyway. I learned why you are not supposed to drive yourself while you are in labor--it's really hard to concentrate on the road mid-contraction. So, I get home and we call the doctor. I pack my bag and we head to the hospital.

When we get to the hospital it is super busy. Apparently there were something like 40 babies born in the 24 hours surrounding Riley's birth. They check me in and send me to triage. I'm there for a looooong time. I kept getting pushed back in the line because a)while my labor was progressing, it wasn't progressing quickly, and b)apparently I handle pain well. I was on the phone with work and friends and would laugh when something was funny and was pretty much myself while the other mothers-to-be were screaming and being nightmares for the nursing staff. At about 1:00 am (9 1/2 hours of labor so far) I finally get moved to a labor and delivery room and soon after I got an epidural (yay!). Although the epidural was fantastic and almost instantly took away my pain, therefore relaxing me, it did have it's disadvantages. My blood pressure, generally at a low-normal range, dropped suddenly causing lots and lots of vomiting. I dealt with a lot of vomiting during my pregnancy (at least 5 times a week all 38 weeks) vomit and labor don't mix so well. The epidural also stopped my labor. At about 3 am the doctor decided that at 8 am they would break my water and give me pitocin to restart my labor, but I would have the next 5 hours to "sleep." Have you ever tried to sleep in a hospital? It's not easy. I managed to sleep fairly well though, interrupted often by the blood pressure monitor beeping wildly when my bp would drop, generally followed my another bout of vomiting. (Labor sounds like fun, huh?).

So here we are at 8:00 am (hour 16 1/2). They break my water and give me pitocin and labor starts progressing (yay!). Finally at 3:00 pm (yep, hour 23 1/2) I am ready to push. 23 minutes later my beautiful baby boy was born. He was worth every 1,403 minutes of labor.



The past 6 years have been crazy! Like most parents I have my times of thinking that my kid is the most amazing thing in the whole world, and also, like most parents, I have my times when I think "why did I want to be a mom again?" But the first definitely outweighs the second. He is such a special kid. He is smart and funny and good at sports. Even when we are hard on him (which is probably too often) he bounces back with a smile. He makes me proud more often than I give him credit for. I'm so excited to see who he becomes as he grows up, and yet I'm terrified to let him. I'm sure he'll make me proud.

Happy Birthday, Riley! I love you!

So, if you like pictures then you'll have to read my next blog which is a photo montage of Riley through the years, and I just stumbled onto a ton of old pictures that I haven't seen in a while, so be prepared to see a lot!