I must say that 2013 was a good year for our household.  With the start of the New Year came a lot of anticipation for the new arrival that was soon to join us!  We rang in the New Year with some of our terrific friends (and neighbors).

Rachel got to play with sparklers and Bryan got to help with the fireworks.

Rachel was at the “old gym” and in the midst of competition season.  My little “Mary Lou” had a lot of success, but since she was repeating a level, we took the successes with guarded optimism.  In all fairness, we were really proud of her!  My goal was to not have the baby before the last major competition of the season (which was Feb 22, 2013 – and we all know what happened on that day).

Looking back on it all now makes me really sentimental.  It was the week before this big competition and I was heavy with child.  And by heavy, I mean heavy!!!  Let’s just say that the last week of pregnancy was a day-to-day ordeal.  Again, I was DETERMINED to not have Sarah Amelia before the meet, and the thought of a kid screaming at me endlessly and loosing sleep made me really nervous.  The morning of the Feb 21st, I woke up very early and felt “weird” and thought – oh geez, no way, not today!!!  I thought it might be funny to go onto Facebook and post my various “I think I am in labor signs” just to see the responses, but I am a FIRM believer that those things are best kept to yourself, your doctor, and your support partner!  Gosh, really, why on Earth post about all that gross stuff…..  Fortunately for me, I was already scheduled for an appointment with my fabulous doctor at 3:45 that afternoon.  I thought well, option #1 – I could start alerting people now and possibly get sent away and loose a day of work in the lab, or #2 – I could carry on and go to work and get some things done and let the doctor figure it all out.  Since I absolutely hate calling doctors offices, I opted for choice #2.  I went to work, turned up Nirvana on my iPad and carried on with work, and sang a lot of the “Nevermind” album.  I am sure that thrilled my lab mates.  I finished a big experiment but didn’t really have time to look at the data.  I walked to the doctors’ office, which was about a 15 minute walk for a lady 9 months pregnant.  After some checking, the doctor asked about contractions and all that stuff, which seemed funny to me since I had been having them for WEEKS.  I had gotten tired of being told they were Braxton Hicks or something nondescript, so ok, I guess these were real.   My reference point was only the steam roller unGodly contractions that I had with my induced labor #1.

It turned out that I was in labor.  Bryan being the trooper that he is, managed to get Rachel ready for school the next day and send her to a neighbor/friends house (with her gymnastics competition bag), which was already setting by the door.  The hospital that I was in was terrific and the nurse actually kept by me most of the time.  It is funny, but her name was Sheila.  I laughed and told her that I should have put the song “Oh Sheila” on my L&D playlist.  She thought that was funny!  When things started getting tough, I started singing that silly song, and later screaming it a little!  I  did have a “L & D playlist”, but it didn’t get played in it’s entirety.  To spare the details, Sarah Amelia made her arrival quickly once things started getting “real”, LOL.

Here is the playlist – I did not play song number one.  As funny as I thought it would be at one time, in the midst of real labor I wasn’t in a laughing mood.  I am leaving out “” for song titles because I am lazy, so please don’t judge 🙂

1.  Push it  – Salt-N-Peppa (hahaha – I actually skipped this one)

2. Alive and Kicking – Simple Minds (like the song and I was hoping for this outcome)

3. My Sweet Lord  – George Harrison (because it is an awesome song, and I knew I would be doing a lot of praying to Jesus!)

4.  Catch the Wind – Donavan (nice song)

5. Lightning Crashes – Live (it talks about the cycle of life kind of thing)

6.  Today – Smashing Pumpkins (good song – and of course, having a baby is always “the greatest day I have ever known”)

7.  Morning has Broken – Cat Stevens (nice song)

8. All Together Now – Beatles    (yes, I put this one in for comedic relief)

9. Your Mother Should Know – Beatles (again, I have such humor)

10. A Hard Day’s Night – Beatles (this is obvious)

11. Let it Be – Beatles

12. Across the Universe – Beatles (labor is so painful it sends you there)

13. Something – Beatles (it’s just a lovely song)

14. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – Beatles (because no matter what, life does go on)

15. All You Need is Love – Beatles (I just like this song)

16.  Sexy Sadie – Beatles (this was an Ode to sister Sarah)

17. Mother Nature’s Son – Beatles (love this song, no other reason)

18.  I’m So Tired – Beatles (this is obvious, right)

19. Here Comes the Sun – Beatles

20. the second side of Abbey Road (minus “Her Majesty”) because it’s just terrific!

21. Supper Tropper – Abba (that’s what I was hoping to feel like)

22. Lay All Your Love on Me – Abba (because I really like Abba)

23. Take a Chance on Me – Abba (what can I say, Abba is awesome)

24. Forever Young- Bob Dylan (awesomeness)

25. The Times They are a-Changin’ – Bob Dylan (more awesomeness)

26. An American Trilogy – Elvis (this was recommended by cousin Eva on Facebook. I was so amused by her post that I included it.  Bryan is also an Elvis fan, so there you go).

27.  Song for the Asking – Simon and Garfunkel (lovely song)

28. Baby Driver – Simon and Garfunkel (my humor once again)

29. El Condor Pasa – Simon and Garfunkel

30.  Pride (In the Name of Love) – U2 (no need to explain)

31.  I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2 (THIS WAS THE LAST SONG PLAYED –  I have no idea why it was stopped here.  Bryan was in control of the iPad.  So this is possibly when things were over.  As you can imagine, I really wasn’t paying attention to music at this point)

Here are the remaining songs

Where the Streets Have no Name, Annie’s Song, Take Me Home, Country Roads, One’s On the Way, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Under Pressure, Bookends Theme, It’s My Life, Get Ready, Something in the Air

 

 

Our First Birthday celebration for Sarah Amelia – cake and tea courtesy of the hospital!