As I sit down to write this, I can't stop starring at my 3 week old daughter who's currently napping (btw we'll see how many times I need to start and stop this if she needs some diaper changes or wants to eat again). Yep, quite a few intermissions. Hah. But honestly, I still can't believe she's mine (sometimes I think I'm just babysitting someone else's child). Since becoming a mom, I wanted to expand some of my blog topics (especially after being surprised by how many readers enjoyed and were encouraged by my 'Becoming a Mother' post. Even if this is just for Emmy to look back on one day, I wanted to write her birth story.
The day leading up to Emmy's birth was something sort of out of a movie. Which I guess is fitting since my husband is a filmmaker. Well, let me actually start a few hours earlier. On Sunday night, July 31st, my husband did a little reflexology on my feet (which we heard induces labor and thought it couldn't hurt since I was already 4 days overdue and my doctor wanted to induce me on Tuesday, August 2nd if I didn't go into labor naturally). I kept saying that I wasn't sure if I would know what contractions felt like and everyone said, "Oh you'll know!" But I almost didn't believe them. I kept feeling her kick but it wasn't painful. So my husband jokingly played Whitney Houston's "How Will I know" and broke out into an interpretive dance in our living room. Hah. Well let's just say that when the contractions started, I knew! So yes, all those people are right.
That night I finally felt peace that I was completely ready (I know most moms who are already a few days past their due date would have been wishing their baby would come out any minute but I was totally content with having a couple extra days to get the apartment and everything in order). I was up late finishing my nursery blog post and watching the episodes of Friends where Rachel and Ross have baby Emma! (which btw I totally forgot that's what they named her until after we had decided on a name). You'll see during the birth that my friends played an important role so those episodes were a sweet, sentimental precursor for our story. So in the middle of the night, I started experiencing contractions. I woke up and began getting ready for our hospital appointment. It was just a check up but we decided to go ahead and bring our hospital bag with us in case they kept us there (my contractions were about 15 minutes apart so I knew I still had a while to go but you never know how long it can take). Before we left the house, I was texting with one of my clients and team (even though it was my first day officially taking maternity leave) because my client was featured on Good Morning America. So I guess I was working up until the last minute! Hah. Emma means "whole or full" and Emmy (her nickname) means "hard working" so that seems appropriate! :)
We made it to the hospital and my contractions were starting to be more intense, going to 8-10 minutes apart. They said everything looked good but sent me home because I needed to be 5 minutes apart. We went to visit my friend, Shelly, who had just had her baby, Gwen, on Sunday night and was down the hall. Little did I know that things were about to escalate very quickly. We had an appointment with our OBGYN that afternoon so my husband and I decided to kill time and go eat lunch at our favorite Greek restaurant across from the hospital (called The Greek Kitchen) before we headed uptown. We had gone there 3 times in the past week (I've had a lot of appointments! But they seriously have the best Tzatziki!). Half way through lunch, I was in excruciating pain. At one point, I headed to the bathroom and couldn't move. I needed the wait staff to get my husband. I didn't realize it at the time, but my water had broken. Without going into too much detail, the reason I didn't know that's what it was is because it wasn't like what you see in the movies with a big gush of liquid. All I knew was that I was in labor.
We moved up our appointment and headed straight to the doctor's office. At this point, I'm crying from the pain and can barely walk as I'm crossing the street. I don't think the office is used to seeing patients actually in labor. My doctor sees me and tells me that I am 5cm dilated, that my water has broken and that I need to go to the hospital right now because I am having this baby today. I immediately start balling. It was all about to happen. And I was sad to think Dr. Shulina wouldn't deliver Emmy. Dr. Shulina was such an amazing doctor to me over the past 9 months, she was so warm and comforting, like a mother to me. While I liked all 4 doctors in the practice, I felt a special bond with my doctor. Before we left, I even looked at her teary eyed and said, "I wanted it to be you!" (knowing that it wasn't going to be because she wasn't on call for the hospital that day). She hugged me and said, "Laura, I am so proud of you! You are going to be great! You can do this! You'll be in good hands." Looking back, I'm so thankful that I had that moment with her.
We rushed to the hospital in an Uber and I was crying and screaming along the way through each contraction (now 5 minutes apart). I'm sure we gave our Uber driver a good story to share with his family later! When we got to the hospital, I immediately requested an epidural. Cool God moment - I was so worried about being alone during the labor/delivery because I wasn't sure if my husband could handle it (he gets queasy/faints easily) and the moment that he left the room when the epidural was about to start, my friend, Meg, walked in to hold my hand. I felt like God was reminding me that I wasn't alone. After the epidural, I felt great. And some of my dear friends (Angela, Carly and Meg) joined me in the hospital room along with my husband (and his best friend, Dugan, who is like a brother to me, also stopped by for a bit which was really special). I was anything but alone. I was completely surrounded by the love of friends and my husband.
Within 3 hours, I was 9cm dilated (pretty quick for a first time mom, the nurses kept telling me). By 9pm, I was 10cm dilated and we thought we were having this baby any minute now. I started to push but couldn't really feel much. And then my contractions slowed down. So much so that they had to induce me with Pitocin. And stop my epidural. I'm not gonna lie, it sucked. It was pretty awful labor for the next 4 hours. I was eating ice chips and had a Shane and Shane album playing on repeat. With how the day was going, we kept thinking we were going to have this baby on August 1st. But God reminded us that His plan and His timing is always better than ours. So as midnight quickly approached, we knew it was out of our control and accepted that it was going to be August 2nd. And then it was time to push again. At first, my husband stood along side me but joked with Meg to catch him if he fainted. Dr. Nabizadeh, not thinking that was funny, immediately said, "No, you need to sit down over there." Honestly it was for the best as there were moments where his face was a little pale. I would look over at him and see tears in his eyes as it was also really hard for him to see me in so much pain. For the next 45 minutes (that felt like hours), my friend Ang, Dr. Nabizadeh (who was amazing) and the nurse were coaching me through every push. It was the toughest thing I've ever gone through. But the Lord gave me strength. And finally, at 1:53am on Tuesday August 2nd, Emma Grace Perkins was born, 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches long.
I was overwhelmed with emotion. Such relief that the pain could stop and such joy that our beautiful baby girl was here. And so much gratitude that she was healthy. To finally see her face and hold her in my arms, something I had been dreaming about for so long now, was indescribable. My husband was really emotional too which was so sweet to watch as he gazed at our daughter laying on my chest with tears falling down his face. We were a family. Our hearts were overflowing with love. God is so good. We just felt so incredibly blessed. And couldn't believe this baby was ours! It really was one of the best moments of my life. We just love her so much already and are so grateful to be her parents.
And that hair! The girl has so much hair! That's what everyone kept saying! Haha. More hair than the average baby I think. Definitely a Perkins! In fact, she really looks so much like her daddy. It's too cute.
