The Real Deal

One year ago today my water broke in bed in the wee hours of the morning around 3:45 am.  I just woke up giggling and told Ryan that this time I was pretty sure this was the real deal.  Because it was so early and I wasn't experiencing labor pains, I told Ryan to go ahead and teach his spin class and we could gather our stuff together and call the doctor when the offices opened.  I didn't see any need to go to the hospital immediately and all the books and moms I know said it was best to labor at home for the first few hours.  So we got around to calling the doctor and went in and she confirmed I was indeed in labor and I needed to be admitted to the hospital.  So we carted all our stuff over to the hospital building and I got hooked up and checked.  

They were concerned I wasn't progressing quickly enough but I asked them to let me roam around for awhile before they tried to stick any pitocin in me because I really, really wanted a drug-free experience.  Ryan and I walked all around the halls and the campus and I started to progress enough that my contractions started to make me have to stop and catch my breath.  I will never forget walking around outside because it was overcast and beautiful (I thought) but we were forced back inside when it started raining...and it didn't stop raining for the next several days. Unfortunately the rains caused severe flooding in Colorado but I remember absolutely loving the peaceful, calm feeling the rain gave me as we welcomed our child into the world.  Now whenever we get the rare rainy day I think back to that time.

I continued to labor until 3:26 the next morning when we finally got to meet our little love:  Copeland.  What a truly amazing, miraculous, magical moment that was.