welcome to the world: a birth story, part 1

My lovely little baby arrived in the world on Sunday September 23.

Hubby and I couldn't be happier. 

So, want to hear the whole story?
Well, I'm gonna tell it whether you wanna hear it or not.
And it's gonna be long.  Because it's something I want to remember.
So if you're not interested, I promise I won't have my feelings hurt.
But here it goes...

I thought I was going to be pregnant forever.
Seriously, my due date came and went with no signs of this baby evicting himself anytime soon.
I had an appointment scheduled for Monday the 24th
and with only a week left before hitting my 42nd week, they were going to talk induction.
I did NOT want to be induced.

Well, it turns out I didn't need to be.
On Friday I woke up feeling pretty crampy.
The feeling lasted all day and by nighttime I realized I was having contractions.
Nothing painful, but definitely consistent.
They started at 6 mins apart and progressed to 4 mins apart.
After calling the midwife, I decided to ride them out for the night and see if they progressed.
Because at this point they still weren't really painful, just a distinctive tightening.

So hubby and I went to bed and in the morning....
I woke up to a big fat nothing.
That's right.  No crampy-feeling.  No contractions.  Nada.
Such a disappointment.

So, since it didn't look like labor was happening anytime soon
and hubby and I were seriously lacking in staple food items,
I decided to go grocery shopping.
So there I was in Walmart on a late-Saturday morning, buying bread and the sorts.
Once at the checkout line I realized I stupidly forgot my wallet in the car.
The cashier was really sweet about it and told me I could go grab my wallet while she rang up my items and I could just pay when I got back.

I start walking out of Walmart and I suddenly felt a tiny gush of fluid.
My first thought: Oh my gosh, did I just pee myself??
I was seriously freaking out.
Well, I kept walking to my car (which was parked wayyyy far away by the way) and I started having more tiny gushes.
I then realized this may actually be my water breaking.
And almost immediately the crampy-feeling came back.
It was much more intense then the night before though.

I should have just gone home then.
But what did I do instead?
I went back into Walmart to get my groceries.
So I hop back in line and patiently wait, the whole time having a minor freak-out in my head.
This was actually happening...my water had just broke.
In Walmart of all places.
The cashier and the customer behind me started asking me about my pregnancy,
and when they found out I was overdue, the woman behind started joking,
"Well, just make sure your water doesn't break here in Walmart honey."
And did I say anything to the effect of, "Oh, too late for that...looks like it's happening now"?
Nope.  I just awkwardly laughed and held my legs together as another gush of fluid came out.

Part two, coming soon....