Amanda at birth

Here is my sweet baby girl. I remember this day like it was yesterday but it has been over twenty years ago. I was over due by two weeks and I had planed a surprise party for my husband on Saturday. On Friday night I started to have what I called braxton hicks although I would find out that was not the case. I had been in labor all night and the pain although significant was not much more than what I on a regular basis experienced each month. I had been hearing for the last nine months the horrific storys about child birth and expected it to be a thing that was going to be so bad that I would be screaming and yelling and I would be very angry at my husband. Well when the pains in my tummy started I was sure that it was not real so I told my husband before he went to work that I was having fake labor and that if I needed him I would call. He wanted to stay but I told him no that I would call. As the morning went on the pains got a little worse and I told him to take me in. He said hold on I need to get your over night bag and I told him "No I will not be staying they just want to check me." So off to the hospital we went. I went in at ten am and by 1201 pm she was born. They said that it was good that I came in because she may have been born at home if I had not. When it came to the time of delivery I was really scared because the pains were not as bad as the people had bee warning me about. I remember at one point looking at the nurse and asking her "When is the real bad pain going to start?" She looked at me kind of surprised and said "are you feeling any pain now?" I said "yes." She smiled and said Honey if your not in bad pain now then you wont be." and she was right. Now I am not saying that it did not hurt but people had worked me up so that I thought it would be a night mare. Afterwards when the nurse brought her to me when she was all cleaned up and tests run I remember feeling so scared to meet here. I waited very impatiently but when they walked through the door I could not help but smile. I watched as the nurse brought her to me and stood there holding her. I was wondering why she did not hand her over to me right away and I kept reaching for her but the nurse was stalling. Finally I was presented to my baby girl for the first times in our lives. It was a moment of pure joy and wonderment. I kept looking at her and thinking that I could not have done this without the grace of God. This pure miracle in my arms was a gift to me from God. Then fear set in and I was thinking that they were going to allow me to take her home and the very next thought was "THEY ARE GOING TO SEND HER HOME WITH ME!" I knew that I didn't know what to do with her and I was scared. The nurse came back in later to take her and let me rest and I told her then that I did not know how to care for an infant and she smiled and told me that I would be taught but I also needed to trust my instinct. So off I went to my room and my husband and I shared our joy. Then it hit me all of a sudden......We had people coming to our house that night for a surprise party that my husband had no idea of. That day had been so filled with rushing for it took me two hours to deliver once I was at the hospital. Even the nurses were rushing about caring for me but now that we were settled I had remembered the party. So a little embarrassed I said to my husband "Happy Birthday sweetheart" He smiled and said this is a great birthday for sure. Then I told him "will you do something for me?" he said sure. I told him about the party and he said "You want me to call people and tell them not to come to my surprise party" laughing he said Ok. Mandy was very special to us and she wanted to wait to be born on her fathers birthday and she was.