I'm in Love. . . .

Today is the last day of the Blog Party and while it has been a blast I am still trying to make the rounds and catch up. So I may be a straggler in the next few days. Of course I don't want to overstay my welcome so it will be quick.

My post today will be about one of the most wonderful moments of my life. While I won't say it is graphic, there may be some things mentioned that you may not want your children to read. So here we go:

I have given birth to two children. My oldest was a natural birth all the way. My second was an emergency C-section, so I have done it both ways.

Now I say "done it" because I didn't "see it". Other than TV I really thought that I would never get to be in on a birth. My son and his wife are too busy playing honeymoon still to even think about a baby (they are waiting five years) and my daughter is only twelve so it could be years before she decides boys are more interesting than her horses. So imagine my joy when my niece, Windy, got pregnant. Finally I would have a baby to hold before I am too old to be trusted with one anymore.

About the same time as the announcement, my sister Sissie (Windy's mom) decided for some reason that moving to West Virginia was the thing to do. So off she went with all the reassurances in the world to us that she could make the drive back down here in plenty of time to be at the birth. (I've seen many of her tickets, so I KNOW she can drive. . . fast). So in my sister's absence I became the sort of stand-in mom when Windy needed advice. I was also honored to be asked if I would attend the delivery with her and Mike (her significant other) if and when the time came and "Mario Andretti" couldn't get here quick enough. No problems. She'll make it.

December 9 2004 began with that phone call. "Aunt Kim, I'm in labor". So I make the hour drive to the hospital glad that Windy is going to finally do this thing, but at the back of my mind I was really excited that I was going to get to see my sister who had been gone now for quite a few months. I get there and "we" are still in the smiling and laughing stage. I'm on the cell phone with Sissie, "yes I will be there. We're in Virginia now". So we settle in for a long wait.

Flash forward a few hours. Smiling is gone now, Ooh I have a pain is quickly going away and real anxiety is beginning to set in. That's right, it's all fun and games until the pain starts. Now she is begging for drugs (she faints at a paper cut so we aren't surprised about this). She's crying, Sissie is on the phone somewhere in North Carolina, driving, crying, and I am getting more and more concerned that she isn't going to be here in time. Mike is napping over on the couch. Grrrhhhhh!

Well Sissie DOES NOT make it in time, the Dr. does, Mike is awake, and I am finally realizing I am going to see my nephew arrive. We are all in our places and everything is progressing along nicely, except Sissie who is still calling every few minutes and blubbering her way through Georgia now.

Then it happens, he crowns, Mike cringes and I get to be the first family member to see him! Sorry Sissie. At this point I am beginning to get a little more excited. This is so unreal to me. All of a sudden the Dr. says to Mike to take a look, the head is out and he is starting to scream. (the baby, not Mike) Windy starts asking me "is it a boy?" Dr. says "Aunt Kim you want to look?"

Side note here: Now folks I am 44 years old at that point with a fairly high IQ and enough sense to know where babies come from. So I will just put what happens next down to. oh I don't know, stress, excitement, nerves. Anyway bear with me while I embarrass myself.

So I look. "OH MY SWEET LORD! IT'S A BABY! WINDY YOU SHOULD SEE THIS! IT'S A BABY!"

I kid you not. I really did say that and not only that, I kept saying it. Every time Windy asked me if it was a boy I kept yelling "IT'S A BABY!" Now the nurses are laughing at me, The Dr said "someone forgot their pompoms". I can't even explain the feelings I had going through me at that moment. Awe, Amazement, joy, and Love at first sight.

Now the really cool part. Someone in the room and I'm not mentioning names here, couldn't bring himself to cut the cord. So Windy tells the Dr. "Let Aunt Kim do it." "OH MY WORD, CAN THIS GET ANY BETTER?!" Sissie is back on the phone now, just literally sobbing , crossing the Florida state line, Windy is crying, Mike is somewhere and I am at that moment forming a connection with this child whom I will feel responsible for the rest of my life. I cut the cord and Devan Alan Ahrens is born. I cut the cord and "Aunt Nanna" is born. I cut the cord and life gets just a little bit sweeter!