Early January was not too exciting for us as we were really just waiting for the big event--which happened five days before my due date on January 21st at 3:43 am. My water broke right as Josie woke up from her nap but my contractions didn't start until a few hours later. After dropping Josie off (thank you Harman family and Auntie Jay!!!) I met Nick at home and we settled in to wait for our fabulous doula Rita and true labor to begin. My contractions were pretty intermittent and I thoroughly enjoyed my exercise ball and the tub. Rita enjoyed checking to make sure Luca was happy during a contraction.
After a relatively short time (about six hours) we made our way to the hospital. When we arrived they were asking me questions that seemed very unimportant at the time. I am sure they are used to having conversations with the top of a woman's head and I was no exception. Thankfully Nick handed the keys to the valet and very quickly and took over.
We had a few moments of panic when the nurse thought Luca might be breech (I believe my exact words were "I would so NOT be amused") but after a quick ultrasound, head down was confirmed and up to the delivery room we went--stopping every few minutes for me to hang onto the railings through a contraction. Our incredibly wonderful team pretty much left us alone and made sure no one else (other nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists, etc) bothered us either. Another few hours later and we had the amazing, unmedicated birth I so wanted. Luca was plopped on my chest and we just looked at him in awe.
With Luca born early Friday morning, we only needed to stay in the hospital one night. Josie came to meet him right away and completely fell in love. She climbed right into bed and insisted on taking her shirt off since everyone else (Luca and myself) had ours off.
And a visit from the Bella Baby photographer who contracts with Prentice and takes incredible pictures:
Saturday morning we headed home and were thrilled to be there. I felt amazing and Josie was very happy to have us back. The next few weeks were quite an adventure, but I'll save that for another post. For now I'll leave you with our official birth announcement and a heartfelt welcome to Luca.
