It was a Good Friday...

This past Tuesday, my son turned three. Wow. Three. Seems like it was just yesterday that I was bringing him home for the first time....with an array of emotions...I was unsure, excited, scared, happy, nervous... Would we be able to do this? I was a mother and Jason was a father...and we were supposed to have another month to prepare. Yep. It was a Thursday and wasn't due for 5 more weeks. I went into work wearing a maroon maternity shirt with grey, over-sized maternity dress pants and a pair of old running shoes. I remember feeling so big and so ugly in this outfit...and this was definitely not that glorious perfect outfit you see yourself wearing to go deliver your baby! I left work early to go to my weekly doctor's visit for I was considered a high risk pregnancy due to high blood pressure. So, I get there, strap that velcro vise on my arm...and BAM....198/88. The nurse just calmly looked at me and said, 'you're not going anywhere'. They admitted me to the maternity ward immediately with the intention to only MONITOR me through the night and administer whatever means to bring my blood pressure down. WRONG! As soon as they hooked all the gadgets and wires to me, it was discovered that I was already having contractions. CONTRACTIONS! what?! I was five minutes apart at this moment in time, and I had no idea...never felt a thing. Once again, as calmly as could be, the nurse said, 'looks like you're going to have a baby today'... Jason and I exchanged glances and all that managed to come out of my mouth was "but his room isn't ready"... Literally, it wasn't ready. Jason, the handy-man he is, had completely gutted our dining room to build new walls and construct a beautiful room for our dear baby. Needless to say, it was still gutted. So, no walls, no bed, no pretty things, no sweet stuffed animals or mobiles dancing above. Nothing. Nada.

Word to the wise...don't wait until a month before your due date to put the room together, because it will bite you. But, in Jason's defense, he was still in school. It was his last year at UAB getting his Engineering degree. Times were tough for him, and he was concentrating on graduating.

So, there I lay...in disbelief, confusion and happiness. The clock ticked and tocked all the while being stuck on 4cm. At this point, time ran together...I got my epidural and some pitocin, for my blood pressure wasn't getting any better. Along with this came nausea, extreme nausea....ugh....it was terrible. So, they remedied that with some Phenergan...and OOOOOH buddy, I believe it remedied everything. That stuff knocked me out sideways!! I vaguely remember my mother-in-law and Jason's aunt being there...and if I spoke, I have no clue what I said. I vaguely remember being on the phone with my dad telling me to convince my mother that she didn't need to drive 2 hours to Birmingham (for it was 11pm and she had just gotten off a 12 hour shift at the hospital.) And I vaguely remember the doctor moving things forward by breaking my water.... and, oh yeah, Jason's best friend, he came in at some point. Now this...I DO REMEMBER, and I remember this clear as the day is long... I woke up and couldn't feel my legs, I couldn't move them and I was scared to death. I started pulling out tubes, wires and anything that was hooked to me. I was trying with all my might to get out of bed, to move my legs. The nurse and Jason jumped up to restrain me and "Get the Doctor! Get the Doctor!," i heard her yell. I kept telling them that i needed to run, that I just needed to RUUUUNNNNN...her response "now, just where are you going to run?"...me, while fighting: "down the hall, somewhere..." The doctor came in, sat down and said "She's ready"....

I pushed 3 counts of ten...and it was the longest counts of ten ever. I believe they were saying 'Mississippi' about 5 times between each number. Thankfully, I didn't feel a thing, though. My Daddy said God made me like the birds...for they have no labor pains, but I'm pretty sure it was the epidural. At 2:10 a.m. on April 6, 2007, Balin Sherling Daniels was born. He was 5 lbs, 10 oz. & 19inches long...and as healthy as can be despite the NICU preparations they had made for a baby born 5 weeks early. He had dark hair all over his body...he was the hairiest baby I'd ever seen...but I was so proud...so, so proud. Who wouldn't be? right?

We spent all weekend in the hospital, with visits from family. My mother and sister Rayanne were so gracious to go clean the house and set up a nice little 'room' for Balin next our bed. All I can say is I owe them big-time! ...for I know my house was not all that sparkly before they got there!

It was Easter Sunday the day we left the hospital. I put on my horrid outfit from Thursday (mind you, I hadn't prepared a suitcase, and my husband did good by bringing my toothbrush, some shampoo and an outfit for Balin!) gathered my new precious gift in my arms and headed home...I believe Jason drove 20 miles per hour and dodged every pothole on I-65! When we got to the house, although his room was incomplete...everything was just perfect, and even the Easter bunny left something for Balin....our precious Balin...who, by the way, was born on Good Friday ...and a Good Friday, it was! :)



Such a wee little thing...





A perfect fit with Daddy...