18 years ago today before the sun came up I was on my way to St. Mary’s Hospital. I had planned to be making this trip earlier in the month, somewhere around the 7th of September, but someone else had other plans. You see, I was pregnant, and my baby was 2 ½ weeks late. When I found out I was going to have a baby way back in December, being the TV buff that I am, my mind brought to memory all those sitcom episodes of the madcap goings on of getting the mom to the hospital. The nervous dad, a la Ricky Ricardo, when Lucy nudges him with that all too familiar sitcom phrase, “Honey, it’s time!” Madness then ensues and somewhere before the rush is over the dad has left for the hospital without Mom in tow. Call me crazy, but I kinda wanted that surprise element, that “Honey, it’s time,” but when Leah refused to come on her due date, we planned an induction. The date had been set for September 24th. I would arrive early and they would induce. For those of you reading this who don’t know, they chemically start your labor with a drug called Pitocin. Call me crazy, but I had decided that I wanted to have my baby naturally, yes, you heard me right, sans drugs, no epidural, feeling everything! What they neglected to tell me was that when you are induced there is no build up, you are in HARD labor immediately. Well after 7 hours of hard labor, and no further along than I was when we started, this chick elected to get an epidural. Good thing, too, I ended up having a C-section. Chemically induced labor was stopped somewhere around 5:00 PM because the stress of it was making my baby’s heart rate drop. The doctor was held up at another hospital, so we waited. Around 8:00 PM things started moving very fast. They wheeled me down the hall to the surgical suite and 16 minutes later Leah was born. 9 lbs. 10 oz. Boy, was I glad I had a C-section! She had dark, dark hair and a lot of it, and her eyes were so puffy I could barely see, but they weren’t that murky blue most babies have. They were dark, dark brown, just like mine. In those 16 minutes my life changed forever.
Today Leah turns 18, society’s and the law’s definition of an adult. That doesn’t seem possible to me. Last night as she walked up the stairs to bed, I jokingly said, “Tomorrow when you wake up, you’re a grown-up. This is your last night as a kid.” How odd that feels. Her childhood is over. When that little puffy eyed baby came into the world, I had such a different vision of what her childhood would be like and what it actually became. I thought she would grow up just like every other kid, with her mom and dad in the house together, a brother or a sister, maybe a pet. She didn’t grow up like that, but I can’t really say that I think it would have been better if she had. She’s grown into a remarkable, confident, talented young woman that has wonderful ambitions for her future, and I know she’ll make them happen! Enjoy your day, my sweet girl, and cut Mom a little slack if you catch me a little teary today. I love you so much!!! You’ll always be my little girl, and I will hold those memories of you close to my heart as long as I can, but I am also proud to call you my friend. Happy Birthday.
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