Nathan's Birth Day

So Nathan is 8 years old today, hard as that is to believe. He was actually born on a Tuesday, at 5:24 PM, at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado. Bob was the aide for a 3 star admiral at the time, and he was scheduled to be TDY Sunday through Tuesday. My due date wasn't until July 2, so the Navy considered that to be very far away, and besides, none of the other men in the office had been around for the birth of their kids, so what did it matter if Bob wasn't? That was the attitude, anyhow. I was nervous to have Bob be gone so close to my due date, but I was praying for peace. Sunday morning after church, I started having contractions, which did not make me feel peaceful! Bob went off a few hours later to go TDY, but at the last minute a guy from another office who was also on the trip stepped in and told Bob he would do his duties as well so Bob didn't have to go. Whew! But then we both kind of felt under pressure to have this baby before everyone got back, or else they would think I was just making it all up! I kept having contractions throughout Monday, but they were never strong enough to make me think we should go in. I didn't sleep much Monday night though, and we went to the hospital around 7:30 AM. My parents were on their way, driving out from Ohio, and they were supposed to arrive that afternoon. When I went in to be examined, the nurse told me she thought I wouldn't be dilated very far, since I was so calm and it was my first baby. She was quite surprised to find out that I was 6 cm dilated! I still wasn't feeling anything too much, so I visited a good friend of mine who had just had her baby 2 days before. Once I got to 9 cm, things just kind of stopped for awhile, and the doctor actually asked me if I was waiting for my parents to come! I was given some pitocin, things started up again, Mom and Dad got there, and Nathan was born at 5:24. Praise the Lord! The only bad thing was that then just a few short hours later, visiting hours were over, and Bob had to leave me alone with this tiny scrap of humanity, who was now totally dependent on me. I was terrified! And since it was in a military hospital, a tech came around and gave me this raft of forms to fill out--when I nursed, how long on each side, bowel movements, wet diapers, etc. And he gave me one of those nose aspirators and told me how to use it. I asked how I would know if I should use it, and he replied ominously, "Oh you'll know." I was so scared. I was sharing a room with a lady who had just had her third baby, and she breezily told me that she never slept well in hospitals, so she always just kept the TV on all night. Hope I didn't mind! That was not a very restful night, but thankfully she left the next morning. I was so glad to go home a few days later, where our wonderful neighbor Pam had put up a "Welcome Home" sign on our house, and even better, had put the "Noah's Ark" border all around Nathan's room! It's amazing how far I've come, but I so clearly remember the feelings of helplessness and incompetence that I had those first days (weeks?) as a new mom. One thing that really helped was our good friends the L's moved to Colorado right after Nathan was born, and they actually lived with us for 8 months while waiting for their house to sell. It was wonderful to have Elizabeth's calm and competent self around all the time to help me feel like I could handle things, or, more importantly, know that whatever Nathan was doing was perfectly normal. I guess that won't work for many other people, but it has made me really try to reach out to new moms to help provide some of that same support I got from Elizabeth!