The Day You Were Born

Dear Scarlett,


     This is the First letter I am writing you.  I should have thought of this a long time ago. Better late than never. Today, I am going to tell you the story of the day you were born. There was actually come confusion as to my due date as I was told May 5th at first and then later told May 11th was the actual date. By their nifty little calendar calculations, May 11th, 2011 was the date.  I knew you were coming sooner. Every ultrasound picture read May 1- May 5th. 

               
                     
 I was pretty small throughout my pregnancy until around 8 months. Then I got huge! You were growing fast. You can see details and stories of the whole time you were inside my belly through the belly book that I created for you.

       

I was a little discouraged that you hadn't come yet since it was May 2nd and all the Mommies that were due around the time I was, had delivered. Even some that were due after me! I was still very pregnant. Me and Daddy took a really long walk with you. At this point, I was 4 cm dilated and had been for a week. It was very uncomfortable to walk because your head hit my pelvic bone every step I took. But nevertheless, we went on a 2 mile walk. I went to sleep hoping you would come the next day. You never came. It was May 3rd and I went to work like normal. I felt sick all day. When I got home, Daddy made me meatloaf and I could barely eat it. I felt like I was coming down with the flu. I rested on the couch until it was time for bed.


At 12:30 am on May 4th, I woke up with pains. Not too strong of pains, but they were different than the Braxton Hicks I had experienced since month 4. I let Daddy sleep and I waited. At 3 am, the pains were getting worse. I decided to call the hospital to see when I should show up. They told me it would probably take awhile since you were my first baby. I waited it out longer. By 7 am, the pains were strong enough that I thought we should go to the hospital. I woke Daddy up and told him we needed to go. We got our bags and your things loaded into the truck and left.


We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am. That's when I consider my labor really getting started. I was in some serious pain. They checked my dilation and I was only 4 1/2 cm! I remember thinking, this is going to take forever! We paced the halls trying to get the labor going. By 11:30 am, not much had changed so the Doctor broke my water and then the contractions really started coming hard and strong! It was a kind of pain I have never felt before. At times, I felt like I wasn't going to be able to get through it. 


The doctor came in to check me at 6 pm thinking it would still be quite some time. I was 10 cm and ready to push when I felt the urge. Ironically, that day, was the busiest day they had in awhile. All the rooms were full. There were so many mothers in labor that one mother delivered in one of the recovery rooms. All the babies were born except you and one other in the room next to me. We were both ready to push and there was only one doctor! I waited as long as I could so that you wouldn't be born before the Dr came! 


The girl next to my room had her baby about 5 minutes before I felt like I really had to push. It was an hour of pushing before you came out. Daddy was by our side. You were born May 4th, 2011 at 7:35 pm. 

When you came out, I remember seeing your little bum first. Then they brought your face up and your little cries came out. Tears filled my eyes because I had just fallen in love. I had fallen in love like I had never done before.  You were perfect. You were beautiful! You scored a 10 on the apgar score and were a healthy 7 lbs. 13 oz. You were 20.5 inches long. You had dark hair and squinty little eyes.

They put you on my chest and our heartbeats touched. I was exhausted and then family filled the room. But it didn't matter. It was as if you and I were the only ones in the world. I looked into your eyes and you were content in looking in mine. You had Daddy's eyes and Mommy's lips. You were the most precious thing I have ever laid eyes on. 

Daddy was afraid to hold you but once he did, he didn't want to let you go. It was a great day. It was the day that changed our lives forever. We now had our little baby. Our Little Scarlett. I cannot express how much we love you. The nurses gushed about how photogenic you were. I'm sure you got that from Mommy ;)

Your Hospital Picture

Scarlett, you are my heart. I hope you love reading all these letters that I have written you. I hope these letters bring you joy just as the memories have made me so thankful, opened my eyes to a better life and brought me so much happiness.