Since today is Groundhog Day (and trust me, the theory about the groundhog and his shadow doesn’t mean much to me), I thought it would be interesting to discuss the one day I would re-live if I could.

That day would be the day my daughter was born.  Up until she came into my life, I always considered my most memorable day to be my wedding day.  But that changed with my baby’s birth.

I guess you could say it actually started the day before she was born.  It was a Monday.  I had gone to my OB for my weekly appt.  Everything was fine and he scheduled me for a C-section the following Tuesday (a week later).  I wasn’t crazy about having a C-section but he said due to how she was positioned and her size, it was the best way. 

That night I prayed to God to help me accept the fact that I was having a C-section and that it would be the following week.  I had been hoping the doctor would induce me following my appointment.  My daughter had been due on the ninth and it was now almost the 13th.  I remember telling myself that what would be would be and to leave it in God’s hands.

My plan was to go to work the rest of the week and Friday would be my last day, since the following Tuesday I’d have my C-section.  It didn’t quite happen that way.

Tuesday morning I woke up at about 5:15 to go to the bathroom.  When I was through, I went back to bed and my husband got up to use the bathroom.  Then he came back to bed.  No sooner had he lay down when I suddenly felt this “gush” between my legs.

“Oh, my God!”  I shouted.  “My water just broke!”

My husband jumped out of bed and ran over to my side of the bed.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes!  There’s a puddle between my legs!”

He kissed me and then went to call the doctor.  Meanwhile, I got up and put a towel between my legs.  I was expecting the contractions to start any minute.  One thing I knew for sure was that by the end of that day, I would be holding a baby in my arms.

We got to the hospital by 7:00.  Still no contractions.  By now I was expecting to be writhing in pain.  But nothing.  The nurses got me all hooked up with their monitors.  The first time my OB came in to see me was 10:00.  He took a look at how I was progressing and said that I was not dialated enough and that he could not feel the baby’s head.  She was not coming down the birth canal.  He told me he’d check back again at 2:00 and if there was no further progress then, he’d proceed with the C-section. 

Sure enough, 2:00 came and went.  Baby still was not far enough down so they got me into delivery.  The only pain I felt that day was from the needle the anethesiologist used to numb me.

After poking and proding for what seemed like forever, he suddenly said, “Okay, lay down fast.”  Before I knew it, I was numb from head to toe.  What a strange sensation!

My husband was still preparing in the other room, getting all gowned up.   I kept talking to myself to stay awake while I waited for him to arrive.  I was afraid I would fall asleep and miss the big moment.

As soon as he came in, the doctor started.  I just kept talking to my husband to stay awake.  At 2:41 p.m. we heard the first sounds of our daughter’s cry as she was pulled from my womb and checked over by the neonatal unit.  My husband went to see her as she was weighed for the first time and he snapped her first picture.  Then he came back to show me her photo.

“Does she have all her fingers and toes?”  I asked with tears in my eyes.

“Every single one,” he replied.

A few minutes later he brought our little girl over for me to see.  She looked so perfect, so healthy, so beautiful.  I can still see her as she looked that day.  Her little eyes all scrunched up and closed.  Her little face all wrinkly.  Wrapped in a pink and white hospital blanket with a little hat on her head.

After a few moments of bonding, the nurses and my husband left with our baby to go to the nursery and I contentedly fell asleep, dreaming of my baby.