on the day she was born...

zoey's birth story...it's as perfect as she is... i started having regular contractions around 9:30 pm...the kind of contractions that you can kind of ignore...they're there, but not too bad...the kind of contractions i had been having for WEEKS...i went to bed--determined they would not trick me into thinking "THIS IS IT!" three hours later, i woke up having contractions that i could NOT ignore...but decided not to wake the house...i wasn't going to go back to sleep, but others might as well sleep through my misery--misery doesn't love company? when i'm miserable...no...i don't want company...leave me alone. i timed the contractions for about two hours...they were regular and felt like they were slowly building in intensity...my back HURT! i took a shower--so that i could shave my legs because i hadn't in a long time and didn't want to be embarrassed when i got to the hospital and my business was everybody's business, got dressed, woke matt and told him to go and sleep on the bed...(don't ask why he wasn't in the bed with me...it has something to do with a cranky pregnant woman and a loudly snoring man)...so that i could turn on the tv to take my mind off of the contractions. did you know that there's not much on tv at 3:00 am? there's not. at about 5:30 am, i woke matt and told him it was time...it was TIME. now. it's time to go to the hospital. i also had to call mom and dad because they were coming to take care of jackson...they were in town, but staying at a friend's house. so...wait for matt, wait for mom and dad...in the mean time--jackson wakes up and wants to be fed...wait, wait, wait. as we wait, my contractions hurt. HURT!!! i'm breathing like an idiot because i never took the class that teaches you how to breathe NOT like an idiot. FINALLY, matt is ready...mom and dad arrive...i practically run to the car...between contractions. the car ride...let's not talk about it...it was AWFUL! and i wasn't nice. we're at the hospital...we park where my doctor tells us...in a parking garage...there's even a spot RIGHT next to the entrance marked for maternity patients...how nice! we were told to go to the emergency room and someone would be called down to get us. a parking spot right next to the entrance? a ride up to the maternity floor? HOW NICE!!! what WASN'T nice was the three mile walk from the parking spot to the emergency room...seriously...it felt like THREE miles!!! everytime we would come to a corner that we couldn't see around, i would think, "just around this corner. i'm sure it's just around this corner." NOPE. matt started going ahead of me to see just how much farther it was...i would hear him laugh and know that...NOPE...it wasn't around THIS corner. and of course we're passing all these glass-walled offices with people in them gawking at the disturbed woman clutching a pillow, banging her head against the glass after every few steps... finally...emergency room...and that ride i was promised... upstairs, in my room...and then...a nurse is throwing a gown and plastic bag in my face telling me to change into the gown and put my clothes in the bag. and then...the spanish inquisition begins...same nurse asking all of the questions i answered on that handy-dandy pre-registration form i sent in MONTHS earlier. listen, hospital people, if you don't care to read the answers i gave on a form YOU said i should fill out to save time once i got to the hospital...why should i now REPEAT all of those answers...when i'm breathing like an idiot and DON'T REALLY FEEL LIKE TALKING?!! and really...does it matter when i had my wisdom teeth out and whether or not any of my relatives have high blood pressure??? 1998 and they all do. THEY ALL DO. i should stop right here and say that weeks prior to going into labor i made a decision...maybe out loud i was still waffling back and forth...do i want an epidural or should i try and go natural? in my heart--decision MADE...in my body--decision DEFINITELY made as soon as the contractions ramped up a bit...i wanted an epidural... (and epidural-lovin' ladies, let's just stop feeling bad about it...let's just stop judging ourselves. hello, my name is amy. AND I WANT AN EPIDURAL!!!) and i wanted it as soon as i stepped foot onto hospital property...it would have been nice if they had met me at the car with the epidural "stuff"...would have made the walk to the emergency room a bit tricky...okay, the epidural "stuff" and a wheelchair... anyway...spanish inquisition...questions answered...questions HAD to be answered BEFORE they would start the epidural...i'm checked at this point...5 centimeters. epidural...ahhhhhhhhhh!!! in LOVE with the epidural man...the epidural man i could not understand...he, too, was asking a million questions...and i'm understanding not a one..."huh?"..."what?" matt's laughing and translating what he's asking and i'm just hoping that we're collectively understanding what he's saying...cause epidural questions seem infinitely more important than family medical history questions. i want an epidural...AND i want to be able to walk after and for the rest of my life. anyway...epidural--check and double check!!! it is now 8:30 am...and the next few hours pass uneventfully...numb-ly...i'm checked occasionally...i can't sleep...but i'm comfortable. around 1:15 pm, i start to push...at 2:20, zoey isabelle pops out...face up. she had gobs and gobs of hair, ten fingers, ten toes...perfect. i held her for a few minutes and then she had to go to the nursery to be observed...because there was poo in the water...that's just the simplest--not the nicest--way to say it. mom and dad brought jackson to meet his little sister a few hours later...and he was so not impressed. not even sure that he looked at her. guess that's better than him looking at her and deciding to punch her in the face...which is kinda what i expected him to do. the first hours...she just stared at us and didn't make a sound...SO quiet, SO different, SO zoey!!! we spent the night at the hospital and would have left first thing in the morning, but we had to wait for the mandatory hearing screen and 24-hour pku. so, we didn't end up making it home until early evening. and now that i think about it, we should have stayed another night...but i hate hospitals and missed jackson...i just wanted our little family all in one place. zoey was here...she was here and she was happy. i kept waiting for her to be angry about being born...but she wasn't. she was here and she was happy. and that pretty much sums her up...happy, content...from day one. and she has the coolest birthdate: 12.11.10. zoey, you are the sweetest, cuddliest baby and i cannot get enough of you!!! thank you, God, again and again and again!!! i am so blessed!!!