Scrapperblog: How I Became a Mom, Part Four

Jenny turns 22 today. I thought she was going to be my last child. Actually Jill was supposed to be my final baby. I got pregnant with Jill when Daniel was just 5 months old, so when Jill was born I was going to have my tubes tied. Or my x was going to have a vasectomy. Well, after Jill's birth I was anemic so they postponed my surgery until 2 months after the surgery. I went in for surgery and had a fever, so surgery was postponed. A month later my x had his vasectomy and I discovered that I was pregnant again. Kind of makes my later infertility issues ironic, yes?

So here I was, barely 22 years old with a 5 year old, a 2 year old and an 11 month old at home and I was hugely pregnant again. My first three children arrived on the dot, six days early. So I expected Jenny to do the same. No way. She was a day late. My sister had come out to help and we were watching and waiting for baby to arrive. Pretty soon my sister would have to leave and still no baby.

On Bryan's fifth birthday we were enjoying the day and having lunch around 1pm when the first pain hit. My first baby arrived in 5 hours, my second in 1 hour, and my third in 2 hours. We weren't going to waste time with this one. I called my x and he came zooming home from work to pick me up. My sister stayed with the kids until someone could watch Danny and Jill and she could bring Bryan to the hospital to meet his new sibling.

I had a birth plan this time. I was going to labor, deliver, and recover in the same bed. Back then it was a revolutionary idea. Only 5 years earlier we had to get permission to bring our husbands or coaches to the hospital. This was the third baby I'd delivered in that hospital in 2 years and I did not want to play musical beds. So they accomodated me on that one. I also wanted my oldest child to meet his new sibling right away, another new-fangled idea.

Anway, I got to the hospital about 10 minutes into my labor, contractions coming every 5 minutes. Again I was checked and found to be at 2 cm dilated. They knew better than to cut me loose by now so they admitted me around 130 and said they'd be back to check on me around 3. My labor progressed and by three I was fully dilated and ready to push.

My midwife (also named Debbie) showed up and my bed was wheeled into the delivery room. They used a big wedge for me to sit up so I could push better. I noticed that I was in the same delivery room I'd used three times before. When I had the boys, the clock had been at my toes. When I had Jill, the clock had been to my right side. When they wheeled me in, I noticed that the clock was at my side and I said, "Oh, it'll be a girl this time." LOL The nurse from the OB office came down to "watch a pro," she said. I was laughing and joking and the mood was quite light considering a new person was about to come into the world.

I did not receive or need any drugs or epidural for the birth. I didn't even have an episiotomy this time. The midwife just told me to push slowly and we'd get the baby out without any tears. I gave a couple of controlled pushes and out slid my little strawberry blonde girl. It was 3:07pm on Friday afternoon.

I was wheeled in my bed to the recovery room and I got to nurse my 7lb 8oz sweetie. My sister arrived with my son dressed in an adult-sized surgical gown. He looked quite comical and his eyes were big with wonder as we asked him how he liked his new birthday present. He referred to Jenny as his birthday present after that.

The birth was the easiest of my five deliveries and Jenny was a dream of a child. She was a little colicky early on but after we got the hang of nursing, she was the only one I nursed for an extended period of time. I tried to enjoy every moment of her infancy because I either thought I'd never get to do it again or I sensed that it would be a very long time before I'd hold a baby like that again. Happy Birthday Jenna Ben!! Now you are as old as I was then and you have a very different life than I did. I wish you happiness and good times. Love, Mom