She's here...and what a finale! Bringing Vivian into this world was such a gift. A slow and steady start to labor on Monday morning at 4 a.m. gave way to the fevered pitch of contractions later that night and an early entree into the world in the wee hours on Tuesday. Before things got to DEFCON 1, Jerry and I shared a leisurely dinner of Chipotle and a walk around Target. There seems no better way to kick-start contractions then to eat some chiles and then peruse the aisles at our favorite discount store.
Side Note: Surprisingly we made it out of Target with a tab under $50. Jerry
was sure he was going to succumb to impulse purchases like a pergola or
five-star slip and slide. Instead we left with ibuprofen, socks and a t-shirt
for Ella.
It was a scene out of a comedy...me hunched over the cart, looking as if I was severely contemplating the difference between Clorox and Seventh Generation bleach wipes, when in reality I was just trying to get through the pain. Albeit scary for the more observant Target patrons...who is that lady in domestics with the wild eyes?...it was a victimless start to the evening...oh, aside from the poor sales associate that told me the bathroom was closed for cleaning. In fact, aside from gratuitous nudity (tasteful, National Geographic style), the entire evening could have found itself in a "G" rated film. I think I pulled out the big guns, saying "this sucks", just once. Labor progressed at home and one hour later we were calling the midwives and contemplating a trip to the hospital. Around 10:30 we arrived at West Suburban Medical Center. An hour of paperwork ushered us into active labor. Triage: "Do you have a car seat?...Do you have transportation home?" To myself: "Do you have a f-ing clue?". We were finally scuttled to the birthing suite and then the real fun began. Legs shaking, not sure if I could stand but lacking the energy to do anything else I found myself moving towards the birthing tub. Granted, this is something I never thought I would do. Remember, I am a decedent from a long line of WASPS. Uptight is in our DNA...I have a turtle neck dress I would describe as "sexy". I'm not the new-wave, tree hugging, Birkenstock and black leather chaps wearing breed of present-day Germany...but the old-school, meat and potatoes kind. My grandfather didn't even put raisins in his oatmeal. The thought of swirling around in my own-after birth was not something on this girl's bucket list. I'll take a nice sterile bed, thank you very much. But that's not how things went down. After getting into the tub, my water almost immediately broke. I was in pain, but not so much so that I couldn't do a tertiary check of the water to make sure the gross factor wasn't too intense. So far, so good. It was then that our midwife determined that I was dilated 6.5 centimeters and Vivian was slowly descending down the birth canal. Brief disappointment in the progress of labor was quickly thwarted as Vivian entered this world thirty minutes later. I can only compare the last moments of labor to an exorcism. I was other-worldly. Jerry described my demeanor as "interesting"...perhaps his only mis-step in this whole process. Just a few minutes of the tub levitating and spinning and Vivian had arrived. She cried just enough to let us know she was okay and then quickly settled down on my chest. She was 6 pounds, 4 ounces of sweet calm. Jerry and I were in shock by how quickly things both spun out of control and then stabilized. How the evening's sound track went from Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" to "We are Family" all within a few minutes. Before long we were hanging out in the room's queen sized bed, sharing jokes, happy and in love with the little girl that has made our family complete. And this is exactly how I envision the months ahead...allow me this one delusion, please. So welcome to our family Miss V. I can already tell you will bring us balance, some grounding and unending joy. We had Yin and now we have our Yang.
