Happy Birthday, Will!!!

Four years ago yesterday, my water broke around 5:30pm. I was at work and while that sounds humiliating, it wasn't the opening of flood gates like it appears on tv. It was a trickle at best. In fact, I was walking back to my office from the bathroom and a little squirt happened. I thought I wet my pants. I had heard that happens to pregnant women, so I just assumed it was the next item in a long list of embarrassing side effects that procreating women have to endure. So, I went back to the bathroom. When I was confident that my bladder was totally empty, I returned to my desk and sat down. SQUIRT. I decided to leave a half hour early, completely unaware that I would never be coming back.

I called my OB from the car, now starting to worry. The random squirts became a constant trickle and I was a little concerned something was wrong. Water breaking never occurred to me. She said "cough." I coughed. Instead of a squirt it was a gush. Through my pants and onto my driver's seat. And no, they weren't leather and easily washable. Sorry, Mike..... Did I tell you that before you bought the car? She correctly deduced that my water had broken. I immediately gunned it for the nearest ER and she said to calm down. Go home. Get ready. I hadn't had a contraction yet, so things were just getting started. Who knew she was going to be so right!?!?

That evening, Mark was in an airplane flying around the state of Indiana with a friend who had his pilot's license. We had joked a million times that my water would break when he was in the air. Lo and behold... it did. When I called him it took quite awhile before he believed me and rushed home. Later, my parents, Mark and I went to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. My OB said to. She said eat, shower, relax... because it will be a long time before I get to do that again. And, four years later... she is still right.

I learned a lot about Will through that night and the next day's labor. One.... he was loud. That night my mom, Mark and I all slept in the labor and delivery room thinking that any minute the contractions would start and we'd be on our way. The baby monitor was deafeningly loud. If I knew then what I know now... all I needed to do was ask the nurse to turn it down. But, now I think it was just preparation for the noise this little being would bring in to my life.

I also learned that Will does everything in his own time. They induced contractions in the wee hours of the morning and by 9:00pm, I still wasn't dilated. I had contractions, and let me just say WOWZA... those things hurt... but he still wasn't making his way out. Then, I learned that with Will, you always need to expect the unexpected... because suddenly it was emergency C section time. And then, 29 and a half hours from start to finish... there was my beautiful boy. The one that the doctors and ultrasound techs said would weigh in close to 10 pounds... at a measly 6 pounds 6 ounces of scrunchy looking, old man baby.

On that day I also learned that my life had just entirely changed. I learned that it was possible to love another being so completely that you would easily give your own life to keep him from pain. I knew the second I held him, that I would never let him go. I knew in an instant that I wouldn't be returning to work like I had previously planned. I knew that careers and success were nothing in comparison to my need to be his mother. I knew that he was the best thing I would ever do, and I was going to do it the best I could. I knew that my little Will Alexander Clinton was my life's miracle... and four years later... I still know.

I love you, Big Man! Happy 4th Birthday!!!