Story of a Girl

The story starts with a phone call yesterday afternoon from Sister. She's been having contractions, so she's going into the hospital that night. Should deliver by Friday morning at the latest. Yay! Finally.

A few hours later, she calls again--she's progressing faster than expected, so Baby Jade will likely come along in the morning. Woo hoo! I make dinner, guzzle some coffee, and head out to the hospital. I get there around 8:30 pm. Contractions are moderately close together, but not very strong. So we watch TV, chat, and wait.

And wait.

And wait. And try to doze in very hard, very plastic chairs, by a very drafty window. The TV was on A&E most of the night, and I sort-of-watched a marathon of Parking Lot Wars episodes. Strange show. Around one o'clock they started Sister on Petocin (to induce labor). Around two, the painful contractions started, and it still took over an hour for the doc to arrive with an epidural. Sister was very happy after that.

More slow progression, but by around nine this morning she was ready to go and the pushing started. Contrary to everything you see on television, there's a lot more pushing involved in birth. An hour's worth, in this case. It's truly amazing the changes the female body goes through in order to prepare for birth. And watching a tiny life enter the world like that is truly humbling. I'm so grateful to have been a part of bringing Jade Marie Lowe into the world.

Born at 10:15 a.m., and weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds-6.4 ounces. Happy Birthday, my darling niece!