Welcome to the World

Reilly had to interview me and write a paper. She chose to focus on her birth. This is what she came up with. (*It's mostly true...that girl sometimes gets it slightly wrong when she takes notes. I think she should cross investigative reporter off her list of possible career choices ...just to avoid any lawsuits.)

The day I was born began differently than others. My mom was in college when she became pregnant with me. My parents lived in the basement of a mortuary. Mom helped set up and take down viewings and funerals. In return, mom and dad got free rent. The mortuary didn’t allow children, so one month before mom was due, they moved.

Mom had a doula, or a birthing coach. She wanted a natural birth, so she went to classes about labor and breathing. Mom cried a lot because my foot was in her ribs. She did a lot of walking.

The day I was born my mom woke up at 5:00 a.m. in the morning because she had lost her mucus plug. It was bloody. In mom’s classes, they had made the mucus plug sound like mucus. Mom and dad were freaking out because they didn’t know what it was, so they went to the emergency room. The nurses hooked mom up to a monitor. They told her, after asking a few questions, it was her mucus plug. She was in the beginning stages of labor. That day, mom had a doctor’s appointment. She went to the appointment and came home.

Mom and dad called the doula. The doula brought a birthing tub with her. Mom, dad, and the doula went to get something to eat. When they got home, the contractions were more intense and regular. Mom sat in the birthing tub, but that was too painful. The doula gave mom blue cohosh. Ten minutes later, they were pacing up and down the living room when “POP” mom’s water broke, pouring down on the floor.

They went to the hospital. The contractions got very painful. Dad was sent ahead to get mom a wheelchair. When he got back, Mom was kneeling in the parking lot on her hands and knees.

. The nurses strapped monitors to mom’s belly to monitor me. It was too painful to lie down, so mom went into the shower and let hot water hit her back. My mom’s doctor was at a birthday party and turned his beeper off. The nurses finally got a hold of him and he came quickly.

My mom was ready to give up and have an epidural. As the anesthesiologist came in, the doctor checked and Mom was fully dilated. She could begin pushing. After thirty minutes, at 7:55 p.m., I was born. When I was born, I was turned face up, so I came into the world wrong.

The day I was born is important because without that day, I wouldn’t be here. Mom said the best memory is the first memory, which is one of the reasons I chose the day I was born. I didn’t know a lot about this day, and now I know more about it.