I was nearly 35 weeks pregnant with our first baby. After four hours of considering wearing a diaper to work, I called my doc and explained what was happening. They suggested I go to Labor & Delivery at the hospital. Oh. God. I hadn't even registered/toured at the hospital.
Not wanting to panic anyone, I called Michael and told him what was going on. "Do you want me to meet you there?" he asked. I declined the offer, said I was sure it was routine, etc., and said I'd call him later. I left work without telling anyone anything; after all, it was lunch time and I was certain I'd be back at work.
At Labor & Delivery, my doc had me undress, cough (guys out there - not exactly your kind of coughing exam)...and then announced that my water was leaking. "You're going to have a baby today," Dr. Rice said.
Stunned and confused, I called Michael. "MT, we're gonna have a baby." He replied, "Um, yeah...I know that."
"No, we're going to have a baby TODAY. My water is leaking, they can't send me home. Get down here," I said. Little did I know that we'd be waiting another 32 hours to meet Audrey.
I won't give you all the gory details - it involves pain, blood and a placenta, but when she came out, I cried. I cried because I'd never felt so ready to love this baby girl, and then I sobbed because her head was REALLY POINTY. I patted it and asked Michael through tears, "This will go down, right?"
It wouldn't be until I had our second baby, Nina, that I'd fully appreciate how tiny Audrey was when we took her home. She weighed 5 lbs., 2 oz. at birth and was only 4 lbs., 9 oz. when we left the hospital. She spent only one hour in the NICU as a preemie, and she and I spent the next several weeks trying to figure out this new thing neither of us was ready for: breastfeeding.
But again, I'll spare you the deets.
So today, July 13, Audrey Laine is now 7 years old. She's the same today as she was in my tummy--impatient. But she's also kind, loving, funny, sensitive, creative, and beautiful.
In one word, we're blessed.
