Day 12

       What a fabulous birthday weekend! What's that? Yes, birthday weekend! Doesn't everyone celebrate their birthday for three days?? Well, you should! Hubby took the day off work on Friday and took us out for breakfast. He gave me...wait for it...an iPad2 for my birthday! I was shocked! I always thought having an iPad would be great having used my sister's but I never thought I would actually own one. So I spent much of that day downloading games and playing them. Love it! Friday night we went to my in-laws for dinner; my MIL prepared delicious butter garlic shrimp and creme caramel for dessert. Mmmm. Saturday I spent the entire day cleaning the house while hubby and Jr. visited his grandmother and aunt. Saturday night we left Jr. with a babysitter and went for dinner with friends. And yesterday we went to my sister's for dinner with my side of the family; Little Jo made peanut butter marshmallow squares and puffed wheat cake. I ate way too many! All in all, a great birthday!

Dear Person Who Caused Me a lot of Pain (a.k.a. Jr.),

Oh Jr... toward the end of my pregnancy with you, I couldn't wait for you to be born. I was tired (although not as tired as I was going to be I eventually discovered!), my back hurt all the time, I had to pee every 2 hours and it even hurt to walk because it felt like I was carrying a bowling ball between my legs. I just wanted to get started! You'll realize one day that waiting can often be the worst part of any journey. Anyhow, the day you were born, I woke up with contractions. This was also the morning of your cousin Jelly Bean's naming ceremony at the synagogue. I debated with your dad whether we should go. Since the contractions weren't too painful or close together, I decided we should. We arrived at the synagogue and I had to pee (of course); by the time I came out of the bathroom, your dad had told your Gramma that I was having contractions. She hurried up to me to ask me how I was doing. I could see despite her calm exterior that she was nerved up about it. Oddly, I wasn't concerned, even though I had never done this before. I was surrounded by family and I figured there would probably be a few doctors around. The naming ceremony was to take place during services, which were very long! But I just breathed through each contraction and it was fine. Afterward there was a lunch so I ate as much as I could. When we left the synagogue I decided I wanted coffee so we stopped off at Second Cup. As we were driving home (around 3pm) the contractions became stronger and closer together so we started timing them. The pain was uncomfortable but nowhere near unbearable. When we got home your dad and I played Scrabble to pass the time. By this time, the contractions were much stronger and I would have to walk around. My favorite position was with my hands up against the wall, my head down, rocking from side to side and bending one leg at a time. When a contraction finished I would return to our Scrabble game. I managed to win both games we played but that could be because your dad was so anxious and couldn't think straight. By 6pm the contractions were so painful I was ready to go to the hospital. So we phoned to say we were on our way and off we went. By this time the contractions were terrible but I was stuck in the car so I couldn't move around. When we arrived at the hospital I was ready for medication. Unfortunately, I was only 1cm and they don't like giving epidurals before 5-7 cm because it can slow things down too much. Fortunately, my contractions were so intense that the nurse decided not to send us home. By 7:30pm I didn't know if I could do it anymore. I was still walking around but was having trouble breathing through the contractions. Somehow I ended up lying down on the bed but I don't remember doing so. The contractions were so terrible and so fast that I felt like I didn't get a moments rest before the next one hit. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe. Wave after wave of awful pain crashed over me. By the time the anesthesiologist arrived to give me an epidural, I couldn't even sit up so he gave it to me lying down. Suddenly, I had a strong urge to push but I couldn't because he was inserting a very long needle in my back. A nurse knelt down beside me and told me to look at her and breathe. She coached me through the next few minutes. Finally everything was inserted and I started feeling better almost instantly. But then your heart rate dropped so they had to give me something to bring it back to normal. Thank God everything was fine. At this point I was pain-free but exhausted. I could have gone to sleep! But then the doctor arrived, broke my bag and it was time to push! Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, pushing you out didn't hurt at all! Well, there was a burning sensation when your head came out but compared to the pain I had been feeling, it was nothing! And then, there you were! Curly, black hair. Your dad's nose. The pain was immediately forgotten. I would remember the pain later, of course, but the moment you came out it didn't matter that the past 5 hours had been horrible. You were worth the pain.

Sometimes you have to go through tough times to reach a place of peace and contentment. Sometimes you're put to the test before you receive your reward.

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. ~ Wisdom 3:5-6