A whole new world

I have so much to say I can’t even start.

But I’ll try.

Labor and delivery the second time around, for me, was a very different and even more wonderful experience than the first time. Less time in labor, less anxiety, fewer complications, shorter hospital stay, and a much shorter amount of time I had to have the dreaded IV stuck in my hand. (Believe me, that’s a big one.)

I think maybe it was even slightly less painful. Or so says my husband. After all was said and done and we were comparing the two experiences I told him I thought the contractions were stronger this time and he looked at me with all the conviction a man could possibly have when talking about the pain level of his wife’s labor and said, “Oh no, it was worse last time. Don’t you remember? You were yelling and crying and throwing up.”

This gave me pause, and I conceded that perhaps he was right, given the fact that last time I had “back labor,” which is a very benign way of saying “the baby is faced the wrong way, so in addition to the regular pain of labor you’ll have the added agony of the baby’s skull scraping your spine on the way out.”

But I still think I just handled the pain better this time. That is, until the epidural kicked in; those last 3 centimeters were a breeze.....

To get me through each contraction, I stared at Kostyn’s face in several pictures I’d brought. His sweet smile and wonder-filled eyes take me to a happy place, and I knew that keeping my eyes on the prize, as it were, would help. And boy did it help.

The thing is, ever since Evan arrived, I can’t stop staring at his face. He has the most amazing eyes. In those fleeting moments when he is awake and alert, he looks at me with such a serene, knowing expression, like we are old friends and words between us are unnecessary. It’s magic, and I can hardly believe that just a week ago this wise little being was safely tucked inside me, a little mystery.

More to come. Much more.