On Fridays I like to post a little about the good things in my personal life that make me live, laugh, and love. Today, that is being an auntie...
Not having little babies of my own (YET!) my niece Cadence is the next best thing. I love my sweet baby girl, and though she's far away, she adds a special kind of joy to my life. I mean just look at her...
I know...too many pictures, but she's my little love. AND a second little love has been a bun in the oven for the past 9 months....
Finally, last night at about 12:06 a.m., at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 19 inches tall, Athena was born, and my heart grew another size...
My sister Allison, the Amazon woman, was in for quite a ride with this one.
For the first 24 hours she was in complete denial. She called me and explained that contractions were happening about 5 minutes apart.
"Holy smokes, this is happening!" I squealed over the phone.
"I don't know," she said. "It doesn't hurt, so I'm just going to hang out with Cadence and walk around. We'll see."
Meanwhile, I was the one freaking out. I was so anxious and so excited, I could hardly keep from calling every hour.
"How are you now? Any change?"
"They're getting stronger, but I think it might be fake. I don't want to drive to Truckee if it's not really happening."
My sister lives an hour from any hospital, so a quick check-in wasn't an option.
"Um, I think it's happening..."
"We'll see..."
Denial.
She told my mom to cancel her flight!
"I don't think this baby is coming any time soon," she told her.
WRONG.
When the nurse convinced her she should come in, Allison was pretty sure she would be sent home after the hour-long drive to Truckee. She wasn't.
She was in labor (of course).
Her plan was to go drug-free this time.
"Yeah, right...." I told her.
She made it halfway without caving, but after realizing she had another 5cm to dilate, she decided drug-free was not in the cards for her.
"Give me the drugs. I need the drugs," she pleaded (as so many women do).
They got her in the bathtub (yes, bathtub...in her hospital room) to wait the 30 min. for the Dr. to arrive...BUT the baby had other plans.
"I need to push," Allison said.
"No, just hang on, you've got a while," the nurse told her. It had only been 20 minutes, and the Dr. hadn't come to give her the drugs yet.
"Seriously, I need to get out. She's coming."
Within that twenty minutes Allison had gone from 5cm to 10cm. She rushed to the bed and delivered Athena into her husband's hands in three pushes before the Dr. had time to run into the room.
SURPRISE.
So much for the drugs.
Needless to say, baby fever is back...hahaha. Too many babies and a whole lot of love will do that to you.