One year ago today, I woke up to intermittent cramping in my belly. I settled in for 4 hours of work on a paper, finishing the draft which I’d been working on for several years. I went for a walk in the beautiful sunshine.
As the contractions continued, we went out to dinner with our doula and her family. We walked to a nearby Indian restaurant. I ate the vegetarian thali and stood periodically to rock off the contractions.
At home we rushed to prepare a few final things and called family to let them know something was on the way. I tried to sleep, but my body wouldn’t let me rest. Our doula came over; our midwife came over; and we stayed up until 6:20 the next day when, in one final push, my amazing, gorgeous, sweet, funny, smart, perfect daughter emerged face down, conehead and all.
I think back on her birth and can’t believe the miracle we were part of. We helped make her, she grew inside me, and through a spectacular transformative process she emerged into our home, our lives, our hearts. Almost every day I have the same conversation with my husband: “I have something important to tell you.” “What is it?” “I LOVE our daughter. Our daughter is AMAZING!”
Today my girl enjoyed listening to a new children’s CD to and from my mom’s (and I enjoyed singing one of the catchy tunes at work). She was smiling and happy to see me at the end of the day, and just went down for bed with soft grunts and “umm, umm, mmm” mouth mumbles. She stood up by herself, really clearly and strongly, though she doesn’t want to stand without our hands nearby or in hers. She crawls around and laughs, plays, explores, talks, and loves life.
We’re so glad you’re with us, amazing girl! Happy first year!