It was a warm summer morning. July 3, 2006. As I awoke, I lay still with my eyes closed. I could feel the fan blowing across my skin and my husband rubbing my back. Feeling very calm and relaxed, I opened my eyes just a bit and I looked toward the window. It was still dark out. The quite whisper of my husband John’s voice said, “Baby it’s time to go.” I quickly thought to myself, “Is it five a.m. already?” This was the day, the day I would give birth to my daughter. I was going to be induced at six a.m. at St. John’s Hospital. The calm turned into nervousness. I had no idea what to expect, except that I would be having a baby on this warm summer morning in July.
As my husband and I walked out the house and got into the Cadillac, I looked into the sky and saw the orange sun starting to rise. We were headed to the hospital. Every time I started to feel nervous, I would feel the baby push on my stomach. A calm feeling would come over me again. As we arrived in the hospital parking lot John said, “You ready?” “Let’s do this,” I replied. A joy came over me. After nine months of waiting to see this baby, today was the day.
Young 2
The smiling nurse came in the room. “Let’s bring this baby girl into the world,” she said joyfully. As I lay on the hospital bed, I was given the Pitocin. This drug was going to bring on my contractions and labor, which also brought on a lot of pain. Four hours later it was time to break my water. Little did I know I had student nurses who were learning to break water on a pregnant woman for the first time. I have to say my mother has never heard me say so many curse words in my whole life. After five painful tries I screamed, “Stop! Give me someone that knows what they are doing!” I could hear John laugh loudly. He seemed to think it was funny that I was being so bold. Finally my water had broken, but I had no idea that I was a long way to giving birth. I was only five centimeters dilated. It was now five in the evening. I...