She’s here! On Tuesday, September 30th at 4:31 a.m., grandkid #5 arrived.
Here’s the story:
In the studio last Monday night, I was bemoaning the fact that I had a terrible cold. It was 3 days past my daughter Amanda’s due date and I needed to get home and get some rest. She could go into labor at any time. A little sleep would help. Why did I have to be sick today?
Home, in my pjs in the recliner, I was half expecting the phone to ring – after all, earlier that evening, Amanda had said “not much” to the question I had asked 2 or 3 times a day for the past several days – “Anything happening yet?” “Not much” meant something, but she didn’t want me to get too excited just yet. She had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for a couple months, so I’m sure she thought I would assume it was all the same - but I suspected. About 10:00 p.m. the phone rang. I answered before the second ring. She was in labor.
I woke Grandpa and we dressed and packed quickly and drove to Amanda’s, a 25 minute trip. Soon after arrival, our two-car caravan, expectant parents in the lead car, me following in my Jeep, was speeding through a darkened town toward the hospital leaving Grandpa behind with 5-year-old big sister and 3-year-old big brother (we secretly hoped to get stopped for speeding just so we could get a police escort to the hospital - ha!).
Amanda was quickly settled into a room on the Labor and Delivery floor. A bustle of activity surrounded her – friendly, competent nurses hooking up monitors, doing paperwork, preparing the baby warmer and many other things we weren’t aware of. The labor pains intensified until at some point – epidural (thank God for epidurals). With Amanda more comfortable, we watched the monitor with each contraction – strong baby heartbeats, strong contractions.
I finally got the nerve to ask the nurse, “Should I even be in here with this cold?” I feared she would immediately boot me from the room and selfishly hoped she wouldn’t. It was decided I could stay if, once the baby was there, I wore a mask. Yea!
Around 3:30 in the morning, Amanda was nearing completion of labor – and so was another woman there in L&D – with only one doctor present. So, the on-call doctor was summoned and soon arrived in Amanda’s room – and we won the doctor lottery! - he was wonderful! - smiling and happy and celebrating right along with us. He even laughed at my son-in-law’s jokes.
Pushing began. I must say, Amanda makes giving birth look easy (thank God!). Even the doctor said he wished all his births could be this easy. Soon, we could see the head; and then, suddenly – she was here! “IT’S A GIRL!” we all said in unison. Arms and legs flailing at her new-found freedom, Elizabeth Ann had arrived. (I confess, I had hoped it was a girl.) Her daddy, a veteran of all this, cut the umbilical cord and Lizzie began her life in the world. Happy Birthday, Lizzie! All 8 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches of beautiful pink perfection!
Amanda and Lizzie saying hello:
Daddy checking out his youngest:
My prayer for you, Lizzie - May you find peace and happiness, joy and adventure, kindness and love. May you live a long and healthy life and learn to see beyond yourself with a generous and caring spirit. - Love, your grandmother
Very well put Grandma. Except G-kid #5 was born at 4:31 am not 4:41 am! We can blame your cold.
Posted by: Amanda | October 05, 2008 at 08:30 PM
... better than blaming my age!
Posted by: Karen | October 05, 2008 at 09:04 PM