The Things I Forgot to Say

I have previously written extensively about Moriah's birth:  her birth story (in parts one, two, three, four, and five), a list of the Bible verses that helped me mentally prepare for the birth, as well as the music that was playing while I labored and delivered her.  So what more remains to be said?  

Well, as it turns out, there are a few more things I'd like to remember about her birth.  I've jotted thoughts down from time to time during the past six months; and each time another aspect of the events surrounding her birth comes back to my mind, I think, "Oh, yes!  I surely don't want to forget that!"  :)  So here we go...a list of randomness (with some pictures that are probably a couple of months old by now, but which never got published).  

~ Moriah was born on a Monday morning.  The day before, I enjoyed an absolutely wonderful Sunday afternoon nap, which was a very good thing because I hardly got any sleep that night (because of my water breaking at 1:50 a.m.).

~ On Sunday evening, Jeff suggested taking all of us to Sweet Bee for frozen yogurt, so we loaded up and set off for that fun outing.  It was fun, too..well, all except the part where one of the boys spilled their cup of frozen yogurt on the floor...that was a little embarrassing.  But other than that, we had a good time.  :)  Looking back, I realized that the night before Tobin was born, we had gone on a family outing to the movie theater to see the VeggieTales movie, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.  The outing before Moriah's birth reminded me of that--one last jaunt as a family before shifting gears to include an infant.  :)  I didn't know it at the time; but while we were at Sweet Bee, one of the receptionists who works in the midwives' office happened to be there, too.  When we stopped by the office on Tuesday on our way home from the hospital (to pick up some paperwork), she mentioned seeing us that night.  :)

~ One of the nurses we saw that night (maybe she attempted to draw my blood?--I forget) looked SO familiar to me, but I could not place her.  Eventually we talked and discovered that we both have children in the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir; and what's more, she and I had ushered together at a concert not too many weeks before I had Moriah.  It struck me as funny that only a few weeks before, we had been together at a formal occasion, dressed in fancy clothes; and now here we were, together again, and this time I was wearing a hospital gown.  It felt so undignified.  :)

~ Before Arlene, our wonderful nurse who assisted with the delivery, left that day, she came over to Jeff and gave him a hug and said some nice, encouraging things to him.  He mentioned to me later that her joy and enthusiasm really stuck out to him.  She's helped to deliver how many babies?  And yet, here she was, genuinely excited for us.  It meant a lot.

~ When we were packing up our stuff before I was moved from the room in which I gave birth to the room I would be in for the rest of my hospital stay, I was looking for the pair of socks I had worn when Moriah was born.  I knew I had had socks on my feet, but I could not find them anywhere.  Jeff confessed, "I threw them away.  They were pretty messy."  Well, yes, I suppose they were.  Giving birth while standing up does nothing for the condition of one's socks!  ;-)

~ I don't remember much about the hospital meals I ate, but I do remember being very hungry.  Giving birth always gives me something else:  a huge appetite.  I was so hungry that first afternoon that I even asked my mother if I could have her sandwich that Jeff had bought for her.  Of course, she said yes.  (Thanks, Mom!)  :)

~ The morning after Moriah's birth, the nurse who was checking me had a student nurse who was trailing her and getting experience.  I believe it was the student nurse who needed to check my blood pressure, but the cuff she was using malfunctioned and swelled incredibly tight on my arm.  I know blood pressure cuffs always feel tight, but this one was much tighter than normal.  Was I ever glad when the pressure was loosened!  If I remember right, they tried again with that same cuff and again got the same result, then finally realized that the cuff was indeed broken and they needed to get a different one.  "Why, yes!  Yes, you do!  Preferably before my arms falls off..."  ;-)

~ On our way home from the hospital on Tuesday, April 10, not only did we stop at the midwives' office, we also stopped at the barbershop.  I forget what Jeff needed to do or get there, but of course the best part of it was showing Moriah off to the stylists who were working that day.  ;-)

~ With already having two April birthdays in the family, I was so curious about where Moriah's birth would fall.  I didn't think she would hold out for David's birthday (the 17th), so I figured she would end up closer to mine (the 1st).  As it turned out, she split the difference and came exactly in the middle between mine and David's.  :)

~ In this post, I announced a contest to see who could get the closest to guessing when Moriah would be born.  Emily was the one!  She guessed April 8th at 8:00 p.m., earning her the prize.  :)

~ I had such a hard time right after Moriah's birth with uterine contractions, and I was wondering how long it would take for that pain to diminish.  Surprisingly, after only a day or two at home, they were basically over--at least, they had gotten light enough that they really didn't bother me at all.

~ Similarly, the breast pain that I always get as my body adjusts to breastfeeding didn't last as long as I thought it might.  I was very grateful that both the uterine pain and the breast pain weren't as severe and long-lasting as they have been sometimes.

~ After returning home from the hospital on Tuesday, I spent the rest of that week laying low at home...until Friday evening came along.  Because Josiah and David had a violin recital in which to perform, I had a good reason for leaving my cozy nest and venturing out.  I was a little anxious about driving though.  My involuntary reaction was to drive VERY cautiously because I was so nervous about something happening to Moriah!  I've always thought those "Baby on Board" signs on cars were silly (because is that sign really going to make someone slow down and be more careful around you?); but that night, I would have been glad for a flashing neon sign that read in huge letters "BABY ON BOARD."  I wanted everyone I met on the roads to be extra cautious, because didn't they know my Moriah was in the car??  ;-)

~ The total cost of the medical bills for having Moriah came out to $7,566.75.  Broken down, it was $3,398 for the midwife care (including lab tests/ultrasounds/etc.), $3,998.25 for the hospital, and $170.50 for the pediatrician who checked Moriah in the hospital.  A far cry from the price of Jeff's birth!  In that case, his parents had prepaid $325 at the hospital; and after all the expenses were tallied, the hospital sent them a refund check for $8.85!  :)

~ With our other babies, I've always gone through a little adjustment of learning to say their names naturally after they're born.  In reality, each of them has been simply "The Baby" for a while before his name takes over and flows smoothly from my lips without me having to think about it.  For example, it was "I need to go feed the baby," rather than "I need to go feed Josiah"...or "Do you hear the baby crying?", not "Is Tobin crying?"  With Moriah, however, it was VERY easy to call her Moriah from the start.  Maybe because we had had her name picked for so long (more than 10 years!), it was completely natural for her to be Moriah, not "The Baby."  Right from the very beginning of her life here at home with us.  :)

~ Ever since Jeff discovered "The Cuppycake Song" and I started singing that to Josiah when he was only a few days old, we have had a tradition of choosing a lullaby for each of our children.  One that I've long admired is "A Mother's Prayer," recorded by Celine Dion on her lullaby album; but I ended up choosing different ones for the boys.  This time though, it seemed right to choose it for Moriah.  I finally got to use it, and I'm so glad.  :)

~ Looking back, I can see so many similarities between Moriah's birth and Shav's birth.  With both of them, I was due on a Saturday.  Both were born on a Monday, thereby making both of them overdue by two days.  Both were born in the morning.  With both of them, I was awakened out of a sound sleep by the sensation of my water breaking, and that was my first sign that labor was beginning.  Both of them were born while I was standing up.  :)

~ One last tidbit, one last photo...  This is a screen grab from my Amazing Counters account; it shows the stats for that time period when Moriah was born.  Since everyone in Blogland loves hearing about someone giving birth, it's no surprise that there's a tall spike in both the daily history and the weekly history graph.  I watch that spike in the weekly history march left across the page, week by week; and when it's gone, I'll know that my baby has turned a year old.  To me it's a vivid visual reminder of the unceasing passage of time.  It also makes me feel humbled and grateful that so many friends were interested in what was going on around the time of Moriah's birth.  What a joy to share our joy with others!  :)

I think I have come to the end.  

Yes, I really think it's true:  I cannot think of anything else to say about Moriah's birth.  Can you believe it?  ;-)

I acknowledge that I've been rather long-winded about all of this, but I can't help but think that someday Moriah will read these words and appreciate them.  If she doesn't, I will.  I'll be sitting in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere, drinking a glass of lemonade, and reading all I've written about the wonderful day Moriah was born.  And you can bet there'll be tears in my eyes...  :)