The Big 10

Today is Bo's birthday. It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years! By my calculations, I was 2 weeks late, very large and uncomfortable and ready to get the show on the road! My doctor decided to induce so at 7:00am, Rick and I went in for the "P" drip.

This delivery was going to be different for me. I'd had medication during my first delivery and afterwards I had a few women that I thought were friends tell me that having medication didn't honor God or his design for childbirth. Of course, I felt like a failure, less of a woman, and pretty crummy about the whole deal. Of course, these women were NOT true friends and had a pretty warped sense of honor. But still . . . I set it in my head that I was woman enough to have a child without medication and that is what I was gonna do!

We were cruising right along, not making much progress and about 10:00am, my sister, Yvonne showed up. She hung around till noon and told Rick to go get some lunch since this would probably be his last time for food. I was having minimal contractions, moving from the big rubber ball to the rocking chair to the bed and then back to the ball. So he left and I tell you . . . the minute he walked out that door, I can feel it like it was yesterday . . . I had a contraction that made me think I was crazy to do this without medication. That one contraction took me from 2 centimeters dialation to 6! When Rick came back after an hour, he came in the door, looked at Yvonne and said, "What in the world happened!" Of course, I was letting the whole world know that I was NOT enjoying this process!

Once Rick got back into the room, though, I seemed to regain my focus, I felt safe - he was there and I was going to be okay! My sister stayed with us and it took about 2 1/2 hours to get to complete and then it took me about 3 hours of pushing to get that little rascal out! Of course, I thought I was having a girl so imagine my suprise when they laid this squalling 8 pound 3 oz. baby boy up on my chest! It was glorious!

Rick said the minute I pushed that baby out I went from near hysteria to complete calm. He said it was the craziest thing he'd experienced!

I proved to myself that I was woman enough to do anything I set my mind to and smart enough to realize that medication is a good thing!!

My boy is now 10 - some days I feel like I give birth all over again! Bo is a source of great joy, laughter, frustration, and love. What would I do without my baby?!






Of course, I can't seem to get a serious picture of him EVER unless I catch him off guard!

Happy Birthday, Ricky! I love you with my whole life!