When any of the kids have a birthday I spend the day before thinking about the day before they were born and what let up to my labor and their delivery. Avery turned 8 yesterday. I think her story is the most remarkable because the underlying part of the whole story is that my best friend Shelly and I had a deep dark secret. We knew I was having a boy.
It's mid January 2001 when my obgyn noticed a skip in the heart beat while preforming a routine prenatal exam.My doctor called a specialist so I could get a "high definition ultrasound" to check for problems. Obviously everything ended up fine, but Shelly came to this visit with me because Phil could not get out of work. (he had a really good excuse, so I was not mad) We made it clear that I did not want to know the sex of the baby. I love surprises. I wanted to wait. While the scan was being done he asked me if I had a boy or girl at home, then he asked me what names I had picked out. Then he fixated on the boys name, asking if it was Irish and if it was after a family member. Shelly and I knew that he knew the sex of the baby. In the waiting room afterwards we decided it would be our secret. It's a boy.
February 3rd 2001, I meet Shelly at the giant Borders near her house. It's our favorite place to be. I look at medical dictionaries and we settle in a section of the store where we might find books that give me tips on how to go into labor. I stand most of the evening to try to get gravity to do it's job. I'm having braxton hics, like I have for weeks, but they are painless. Shelly is amazed how firm the false labor makes my belly. The body is a strange machine. We end our night as the store closes a bit after 10:00.I called her about 2 hours after I dropped her off. (She was there when Quade was born; more importantly,she was there for the awful, drug free labor.) She came and got Quade, dropped him off with her husband at their house and missed Avery's delivery by minutes. I had a 1 hour 40 min labor. Ouch. She came to the hospital room door and Phil met her with "It's a girl!"
She thinks:
1. This is a joke because that was way to fast.
2. I know it's a boy, so, yeah this is a joke.
Once she makes it past Phil she sees me and Avery and whispers "It's a girl?"
That doctor is a jerk. He was messing with us. It took me days to get it through my head that I had a girl. Every time I changed her diaper it was like finding out all over again. I would have been so happy to have a boy, I told everyone that I didn't care if it was a boy or girl, but I really, really wanted it to be a girl.
One last push, I really didn't want to push any more. I didn't get any medication. I wanted something to take the pain away. Shelly needs to be here. Dr. Gilotti says, if you push one more time you'll have the baby and then there will be no more pain. It was only my 3rd push. I can do this. So I push.
Then Dr Gilotti says it. "It's a girl!".
I say, in absolute, obvious disbelief "It's a girl?!"
She is laughing, not sure why I don't believe her and shows me my baby girl, "see?" she says.
I saw, and the pain was gone.
The girl! Avery Meredith
