Fourteen Years Ago

Fourteen years ago I was impatiently awaiting the birth of my daughter, Kelli. It had not been a fun pregnancy. I gained so much water weight the only shoes I could wear were Keds, and I couldn't tie them. I damn near weighed 200 pounds. I did lose 10 pounds the week before I had her, only because I quit work and could sit with my feet up.



I remember it was a really nice day, I think it was about 65 or so. We'd had some snow and rain the week before and my car was filthy. Jessica and I went to three different car washes because the lines were so long. I also had to go to Wal Mart because Jessica needed shoe laces.



We were walking through Wal Mart and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. I quickly loaded up Jessica and went home. I started having contractions. Of course, they would start to be about 6-7 minutes apart, and then they'd go to 9 or 10 minutes.



I made myself a grilled cheese and laid down for a while. My husband started making arrangments for Jessica to spend the night with some friends. He took Jessica to our friends and about 6 we went to the hospital.



Of course, once I walked through the doors, the contractions stopped. I was so mad. I was due on the 20th of December and I'd had enough. Finally, at about 8:30 they sent me home. I told the doctor that I'd be back, I knew I was having this baby tonight. He said, "well, I'm here until midnight so hopefully I'll see you."



We decided to leave Jessica with our friends, just in case. About 10:00 my husband went to bed. I stayed up watching Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve. Around 11:00 I started having contractions again and these were a little more intense. At midnight, I was watching the ball drop saying "10, 9, puff, puff, 6, 5, puff puff." I woke him up and we headed to the hosptial. We only lived about 5 minutes away.



As I was waddling in, I saw the doctor and I said "I told you!" He said "okay, let's go have a baby." Even though he was off he came back until the other doctor got in there.



My labor went really fast - there was no time for drugs or an epidural. At 3:30 a.m. I finally got her out and into the world. I overheard the nurses asking if they'd heard of any other babies being born before Kelli. Kelli was the first baby of 1994 in the Metro East. There was a baby born around 1:30 a.m. in St. Louis.



The newspaper came and took our picture and wrote an article. I looked like a fat blob. Luckily they only used Kelli's picture on the front page of the paper.



It seems like a lifetime ago, but yet it seems so fresh in my memory. Happy Birthday, baby of mine. I miss you so much. Fourteen years wasn't enough time.