The First Three Months

I am dabbling in the world of blog so that I can share my life with Delilah with the people we love far and wide. I've never really blogged before so this should be fun.

I am a very creative person and when I realized that I haven't sat down and documented her little milestones I felt guilty of robbing her of some precious memory that she could come back to when she is older. But its never too late to start...

Going back in time...

July 22nd, 2010
Here I was, feeling enormous and hot and ready to burst. But also feeling safe, as if I had a few more weeks to get use to the idea of this faceless little person in my arms and running my life. (due date 8/6/10)
Sitting at Doobie & Kyle's house listening to them talk about the birthday party for Doobie planned for that weekend. Her birthday was tomorrow. Fun, fun.

July 23rd, 2010
Woke up early to pack up my brothers truck for our camping trip to Kausey Dam. Everybody was warning me not to go, and I was offended. Really I was. Like my pregnancy was some kind of disability? Rude.
We drove through the beautiful, scenic passes up to the dam and unloaded our gear bracing ourselves for the tranquility and beautifulness of this area we were about to enjoy for a few days. A welcome speedbumb to the hustle and bustle of everybody's busy life. Time to just sit and watch the kids play, fish in the river and cook yummy food over the fire. UNTIL.... I was walking around the campsite with Bryce (9) and Brendan (3) figuring out our place in the scheme of things, subconsciously looking for treasure, when I felt a change in my gut. Nothing alarming or painful just a little tightening. I hoped it was part of the preparatory contractions I had been feeling for weeks. I hoped.

We drove a few minutes to Pineview Dam, a familiar hangout, and layed out on the sand and played with the kids. I did more laying than anything. Even had a little airbed mattress under some trees. It was awesome. Then....."crunch". It felt like some defining large bone of Delilah's had just crunched its way down my pelvic cavity. Again, it didn't hurt, but the feeling of urgency overtook me and I braced myself. What came next was an undeniable contraction followed by a gush of liquid. Ah shit, here we go. Me crying, the neighboring group/family looking over concerned, and me again trying to not make a big deal out of anything. But it was a big deal because I was about to have this baby.
Its was cute, my brother panicked a little when everything suddenly seemed to come unhinged, his three month old was balling hysterically, everybody was hot and sweaty, and here I was screaming and crying every three minutes. Julie, my sister-in-law, tried to maintain some ounce of sanity for everyone as the adrenaline kicked in. She was driving me out of the canyon, great-grandma and baby Baylee in tow. At first I wanted to go home. Thinking I could bare a few hours of this at home. It wasn't long before I changed my mind. Straight to the hospital it was. 

I was just beginning to realize why everybody had warned me not to go camping. But then again, I love a good adventure and Pineview is not a bad place at all to start this whole childbirth experience. It would have been so unlike me to play it safe.
I will describe the feeling of Delilah's birth as an elated-time joy-blastoff-highly spiritual experience. She was announcing her arrival through me and I was glad to be of service. Call it pain or call it unavoidable extreme mindfulness. It was an awesome feeling, a force I had no choice but to reckon with.

to be cont.