11 years ago today...

I've found that every year on my children's birthdays I walk thru what I did on the day they were born. Yeah everything I can think of anyway. K is my first baby and I will always remember her delivery as well as many other events that happened around her birth.

K was the one that really opened my eyes and made me grow up...sure I was almost 24 when I had her(I actually got to bring her home from the hospital on my 24th birthday!) but there is nothing like having a little human totally dependant on you to make you grow up at last.

So 11 years ago right now I was living in Calgary, Alberta...I'd do the time change and stuff but let's just take it as current time(which is 6amEST) and I was in labour. I had been in the hospital for a little while before I even went into labour because I had high blood pressure from the pregnancy and was on bed rest(with bathroom privileges!). The previous evening I had had a bad experience with the OBGyn on call(he did a very rough internal without warning me and treated me like I wasn't even there and then told the nurse; 'If we induce now she'll end up with a section'-He had the worst bedside manner ever!) K's father had seen how upset I had been by the whole deal and went out and told the nurse a thing or two...then she came in and explained to me that this particular ObGyn preferred to use natural means to get things moving and had done the exam that way to put me into labour naturally. Of course I know all these things now but at the time I would have like a warning!!

By 6am my water had been leaking for a few hours and I was in a labour room with P(K's father) and, if remember right, was pretty high on morphine(the only time I took painkillers for a birth) and having an interesting trip. Stones, labour wasn't too bad...the times between contractions seemed to s t r e a t c h like rubber and the pain wasn't as bad as I had imagined(but still, at that point in my life, the worst pain I had ever had to endure). The labour had been going on long enough that both P and I were getting a bit tired of talking and playing cards between contractions and were both dozing between them instead. Things continued that was until about 8am...then things got really interesting. I puked up the Areo bar I had eaten earlier(because I had been starving) because of transition. My family doctor was delivering my baby(how cool is that!) so she was there getting everything set up...they actually put me in stirrups...any ladies out there will know exactly what I mean...of course I look back now thinking of all the things that they did that I would have never put up with for my last delivery(which I'll be recounting in about 9 days on M's 3rd birthday) but it was my first and I didn't know any better.

So at 8:30am I had my very first baby. P was so proud I thought I could see his chest expanding, it was funny. I got up right after the birth and asked for a shower, I actually felt pretty good(which surprised the nurses). Of course the next day I felt the effects of all that pushing and straining..mostly across my chest and arms. My first though was "Wow...I'm a Mommy." Well after that there were complications with K's liver and she needed to be put under lights and there was a risk of her needing a blood transfusion...I was very worried for her for the first time as her Mother and called my own Mom and said I was sorry for anything bad I had done because I knew for the first time in my life just how much she really loved me. I t was a powerful moment and I will never forget it as long as I live.

I fish out some baby shots of K later...I have to go eat breakfast!

Kirsten was very happy to see the neighbourhood she has been playing on my computer on hers! *LOL* Very very happy...she soon had her friends down in the basement explore and make some animals.

Cass :)