3.29.2015

3 Unexpectedly Strong Feelings I Had During Labor

They prepare you for pain, they tell you all about hormones, they tell you every second they can about the moment your baby is born, but three moments I was not expecting were:

1. Rage.

Not like in the movies ('yooooou did this to meeeeeee' [I never got that]) but in a very slow moment, when we finally were on our way to the hospital and, even though I had asked Porter some 6 hours earlier when I figured we'd be headed to the hospital before morning to put the car seat into the car, he had not put the car seat into the car. It's for sure the only time I've every dropped the F word at anyone, maybe the only time I've ever sworn at Porter.

2. Panic.

When we arrived at the hospital it was like 5 am, so the main doors weren't open. Even though I'd been to the hospital plenty, and been told there was a door anyone could access just to the left of the main door, we didn't see it right away and I'm not even kidding I didn't think we were going to find a way into the building. At one point I saw two people at a front desk through a window and still was sure we were going to have to drive another lap around the building and find a random door.

3. Boredom.

After I got the epidural. What a trick! I took a much needed nap eventually, but for the first 20 or so minutes post-epidural, there was some very literal thumb twiddling going on.