The Day I Became a Momma

It's my first mother's day and today I can't help but think of that special day my little Siege came into the world. He sure has changed everything and made our lives so much fuller. It was probably the best day of my life thus far. Although it was 7 months ago sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday and other times it seems like it's been ages. Today, I thought I'd give a little synopsis of that day, excluding most of the gory details of course.

On October 5th, 2010, a day I thought would be like every other, I woke up thinking I had lost all control of my bodily functions. I thought for sure I had wet the bed. As I ran to the toilet totally embarrassed, I realized that I was still going... and going... and going. I remember yelling from the toilet, "Chris....uh.... I think my water broke."

Then, I cried. It was too early. Siege wasn't due until November 19th, for another 6 weeks. The more I freaked out, the more Chris realized I needed my mother. He had me call her and it was probably the only thing that made me breath a little easier. Mothers just have a way to know what you need. That's why we get a special day like today.

I called the doctors office who told me to go to labor and delivery. Would this really be it? Next, I called my boss. I had never taken a sick day and I only had one sub my entire teaching career due to meetings I had to attend at the school, so the thought of not going into work freaked me out even more. I had NOTHING for a sub. I was ready to sing and dance like I always did that day. Subs don't put on a show, they pass out worksheets or play videos. To think I would be starting my maternity leave that day made me pretty nervous.

On the way to the hospital, I remember my mom looking so excited, like it was Christmas. I felt like I was going to puke. When she saw that I was ghostly white she said in her Mexi-Bostanian accent, "Tracy, don't worry the baby can survive."

That was NOT what I wanted to hear. The baby can survive? I accredit that comment to a mix up in translation. Which had happened over and over growing up in my household. But this was not a time for an error with words. I wanted to hear that the baby would be fine and I would go home that night with a healthy little baby OR that I would head back off to work after the doctors said it was nothing and carry out my pregnancy. However, neither of those things happened.

When we reached the hospital at 6:30AM it was empty. That's when I knew I would love Centennial Hills. The first nurse checked to see if my water had in fact broken and it wasn't just a slow leak (as if I was a busted water heater). When she told me it had, I asked her what that meant. Was I going have this baby today? She said, "Maybe." Then I asked if I could go to work. She said, "You're here until you have that baby wether that's today or three weeks from now."

That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. After all, my bridal shower was on Saturday!

I got settled in a room where I couldn't leave the bed, not even to use the rest room. They wanted to keep me from contracting as long as possible. When my doctor showed up he could see that I was upset. He made me laugh and comforted me by talking about his premature daughter that was born at 28 weeks. She was in high school now, a beautiful cheerleader.

He decided to not give me steroids to prevent labor and to just let my body go into labor naturally. He said that 50% of women go into labor within 24 hours of having their water break. If I didn't, he would induce me in 2 days to prevent an infection.

My entire family came to see me that night (Chris was still at work. He went in after my mother picked me up and drove me to the hospital). We had a party in that labor and delivery room. I think there was about 15 of us in there. Just as my family was about to leave my nurse came in to warn me I was contracting. It must have been too much laughing. She continually asked me if I was in pain, which I wasn't at all.

Chris got to the hospital around 11PM that night and slept like a baby as I tried to clear my head. By 3AM I was dilated to a 3 and the baby was on his way! By 6AM I was still only at a 3 and my contractions were super irregular. The nurse told me they would start pitocin and the contractions would start getting a lot more intense. At this point my pain was still pretty minimal, but when she offered the epidural I said, "Let's do it!"

I can honestly say, I hardly experienced any pain during labor. I guess you could say that was the single benefit from having my water break early. I remember getting the shakes and a little itchy all over my body, but no real pain, until the pushing when my epidural started to wear off a bit.

By 12:30 PM I was ready to go. The nurse told me to hold that baby in until the doctor could be there. He was 8 minutes away, the longest 8 minutes of my life. When the doc got there we pushed one cute little alien baby out. Prior to delivery Chris had said he had no interest in cutting the umbilical cord, but that quickly changed when the doctor put the scissors in his hands.

The feeling I got next is indescribable. I became a mom in that moment. I loved that little gooey baby more than anything in the whole world. Thinking about it puts the biggest smile on my face.

While the next few weeks were spent in the NICU, Siege was a healthy boy. His lungs were fully developed and he was pretty huge for being 6 weeks early (5 lbs, 9 oz). The doctor called my uterus "Lurch".

Everyday I love my bubba more and more. And although I complain sometimes about the duties that come with motherhood, every sleepless night, dirty diaper, all the spews, & cranky days, are worth every smile I get from my little Siegers. Motherhood is incredible.