Birth Story

Ok, so, after 4 hours of sleep I feel like I can write now. I tried last night but I couldn't really express how I felt. It was weird. I had nine months to get ready for this...I read all the baby magazines Esther had, I watched all the Baby Story and Special Delivery and Birth Story and Materinty Ward I could. I had been there, kinda, for Sam, Aidan and Noah's births (I was in Buffalo when Sam was born in CT, and in NYC when the twins were born in Buffalo). We got over the gestational diabeties, and even went out for ice cream and chicken finger subs once or twice or a few hundred times. I talked to Esther about what she learned in lamaze, I talked to my friends who had babies about what they went through. And then I figured, all I had to do was go sit in a bar somewhere until John called and said, "It's a girl," or "It's a boy" and then run to the hospital to see the baby. Afterall, I wasn't giving birth.

But then Thursday night Esther went in to be induced. And I was a little nervous. I didn't sleep well. I blamed it on the cat. He wouldn't lie still so I could sleep. That's why I got up 2 hours before I had to. And all the diet coke I had during the day on Thursday.

Friday morning when I called home and Mimi answered the phone in her worried voice saying, "Julia?" not, "Hello?" I almost drove right off the skyway. I was using my hands-free, but in a half a second I thought, "Why is she worried? where is mom? what's wrong with Esther? What's wrong with the baby? Why didn't anyone call me? Are they OK? How do you get to Childrens from here?" Of course, everything was fine. Mom was on her way to the hospital to sit with Esther so John could go home and shower. Mimi should not answer the phone.

Around 9:30 when Dad came out and said they were taking her in to do a c-section I felt a little sick. Not my "ew-blood" sick, more of a "don't hurt my sister" sick. I knew it was a possibility, and they had been talking about it seriously for about 3 hours, but it was scary. And the waiting room got kinda quiet. Of course, we were most of the waiting room. It was Dad, Louis, Mary, Mike, Lisa, Me, Mo Gina, Ginny, Jim, and Mom, but Mom was in waiting with John then. When she came out she and Ginny cried for a minute. The the midwife came out and asked for a camera, because the baby was almost out. I was surprised at how quick it went. I was also surprised when the midwife came out a few minutes later and said, "You have a girl!" Not that she's a girl, I thought she might have been, but that she didn't let John tell us. Anyway, everyone yelled, Ginny, mom, Gina, Lisa, and Mary cried a little bit. And then when John came out and said "It's a girl," we all cried. I felt so relieved, because I knew he wouldn't leave Esther and the baby unless they were doing well. It was like and emotional weight that I didn't really realize was there was lifted off my chest and I just wanted to, well, cry. John had 3 pictures of Julia on the camera, and we could tell she was OK, and he said Esther was OK, and I didn't feel so sick anymore.

The midwife let John hold baby Julia up for us to see and take pictures of later. She's absolutely beautiful, as you can see, and from the first minute John held her up I was in love with her. I'm so proud of Esther and John. I have decided, though, that this is why I won't be having babies anytime soon (among other reasons). I could hardly handle it emotionally when Esther had a baby!

In a few hours I'm meeting Gina, Mary, and Lisa to buy some pink and purple clothes and then we're going to the hospital again. I'm sure I'll have a few more pictures to post then...