July 7th, 1999

Let me reminisce a bit. Nine years ago, as I write, I was in labor with Emily.

She was due July 17th, but starting around the 4th, I'd get sporadic contractions (thanks to the hot weather the docs said.) But each time we went in, they stopped. July 7th was the only day that we couldn't have grandparents to come down from 2 hours away to watch Kyle.

(Rewind: Kyle was 2. He was dx'd with diabetes the previous December. We moved to Wisconsin in April. It was now July and we didn't know anyone enough to watch Kyle who was willing/able to check blood sugars and give multiple shots while we were in the hospital. So we NEEDED grandparents or else he'd be right there in the room with me!)

Of course, I woke up the morning of the 7th with REAL contractions. After my mom and dad got there a few hours later (she had to leave work), Greg and I went to the doctor's office. She decided it was time to break my water since the baby kept dropping, but I kept stopping contractions. Great, we thought, we're ready for Emily to arrive already!!

They gave me nubane around 1 p.m. to help me relax between contractions. (I wanted to try to have the baby w/o an epidural since I had such a sore back after Kyle was born) At 1:41 Emily came into this world. Greg almost missed it. He was wandering around trying to find a soda, thinking he was in for the long haul. The doctor almost missed it too. But luckily her office was connected to the hospital.

Notice I didn't have any other babies after that experience. I still hyperventilate going to the OB/GYN. LOL! (OK, that's no the ONLY reason) I would NEVER say having a baby w/out an epidural was easy. It was terrible! However, I did recover a whole lot faster!

Emily Kristine, from day one, had a mind of her own. There's no speeding her up or slowing her down! We love you Em!

We're having a party for her today. So I'll post more later...