We Begin

During dinner at Mari Monti’s Saturday night Beth and I agreed that we couldn’t keep up the continual thinking that each tomorrow might be the day Caroline arrived. It was starting to drive us crazy so we resigned to the fact that she could be another two plus weeks—it brought us calm for the remainder of a nice dinner and an enjoyable night together. This calm lasted about 10 more hours.

Beth woke me up at 6:45 Sunday morning walking around the bedroom. She had been awake since 6 with contractions. Although she could talk through the first contractions I witnessed, the frequency quickly increased and by 8:30-8:45 they were regularly 4-6 minutes apart and lasting roughly a minute…she was not talking during these contractions. Lesson learned: DO NOT (no matter how exited or happy you might be) laugh, smile, grin, smirk, or giggle while your wife is having a contraction. I repeat, DO NOT DO IT. Do whatever you want between, but just rub her back during.

We headed to the hospital at about 9:30 and were checked in by 10:00. Of course we showed up at the entrance of the hospital and the valet was no where in sight. After a couple more contractions in the front seat someone showed up so I tossed her the keys…luckily she turned out to be the valet. During her initial eval Beth was dilated 5-6cm. After a few more contractions Beth opted for an epidural…turned out to be an excellent decision. My parents, Beth’s parents, and my sister arrived about 2pm so it was nice visiting with them while waiting.

Beth and I woke up from naps about 4:30. The doctor checked her at that time and said she was ready to push. Beth was amazing! She displayed the strength and determination of a champion. After about 45 minutes of pushing Caroline made her appearance--I looked down and saw her head and told Beth that she was here…one more push and she was on Beth’s stomach at 5:25 pm weighing 8lbs 3 oz and measuring 21.5 inches long. It was incredible and something I can’t really explain, but know that I’ll never forget.