Happy 11th Birthday E!!

Miss Emily Hope Young turned 11 at precisely 1:16pm today. Wow, it doesn't seem possible, where does the time go. She doesn't believe me, but I remember that day like it was yesterday....

I was up at 430a on February 20, 1998 having a case of the trots (I know, you wanted to know that) and I couldn't figure out why I could barely sit on the toilet. Finally, at 545a I woke JY up and said, "Honey, I think I need to go to the hospital". In perfect JY fashion he replied, "Huh, ok babe" and rolled over and went back to sleep. So, I went back to the bathroom and was in a lot of pain and decided that I should call Dr. V (aka hottie doctor). The Dr thought I was in labor - WHAT?? - and that I should come on in. So, it's now 615a and I go in and shake JY awake, look him right in the eye and say, "Honey, PACK THE F'ING CAR WE'RE IN LABOR". I don't know, maybe he heard the scared in my voice but he got up and did what I so pleasantly asked him to do and then pulled out of the driveway with me looking on - not in the car.

Finally strapped in the car and we're on our way to Mercy in DSM, which is a 45 minute trip for us. JY asks, "Are you having contractions??" and I'm all, "I don't know, I've never had a contraction before but my back hurts like a B, why do you ask?" and JY's all, "Well, I've been watching you and every 3 minutes you grab the oh shit handle, so I'm thinking your in pain and having contractions." Interesting, no wonder he's driving like a bat out of hell in morning rush hour traffic, I wasn't going to say anything about it.....

We get to the hospital in one piece (yeah) and I get a wheelchair ride to our room. The first thing I say to whoever is listening to me is that my doctor told me I could have the epidural WHENEVER I wanted it and I would like to have it NOW please :) I was then told that if I had the epidural NOW (like I wanted to) I wouldn't be able to get up and walk around. Really? Who the hell wants to walk around in PAIN?? I opt'd for a shower instead and then I wanted the pain meds. Who knew that a hot shower could make a person dilate to 6 cm? Right. So, Dr. V comes in eating a bagel and drinking coffee and I'm thinking, damn, I'm hungry. You can have ice chips he says and I bite my tongue and smile at him.

I get the epidural and all is right in the world, so right that mom and I start playing cards and the audience I have in the room (Deb, Julie, Heather, Sasha, and JY) start eating the snacks I brought to eat for myself. At 1245p Dr. V shows his pretty face again, this time he shrugs off his expensive suit jacket and is being followed by 4 other student dr's. He says, "You don't mind do you?" Come one, come all I say ;) He then announces that it's time to start pushing. What, are you sure?? I don't feel like I need to push like I learned in the birthing classes, so don't you think we should wait a little bit?? Yea, no.

The water broke, and JY ran to the bathroom to throw up. What a wimp. So, I pushed and I pushed and I hear, I need the suction cup we need to get the baby out right now. I found out after that Emily pooped in the womb and the cord was ripping away from her and she was blue. OKAAAAAAY, wth? This statement brought in MORE people, neo-natal people to be exact and everything moved very quickly after that.

The moment I heard Emily cry I fell in love, hard. JY followed her down to the nursery and stayed with her until all of her tests were done, he made sure she passed with flying colors and then came back to the room with her. He was in l-o-v-e, plain and simple. I remember watching him hold her, he was staring at her and telling her that they had lots of ESPN to watch. It was an amazing thing to witness. He was the proud papa and it showed all over his face. I loved him so much in that moment.

I called g'ma Austin and she said, "Oh good, another Emily Hope in the family." Bummer.

So, E, never doubt that your daddy loved you. You and your sister were his world and he was so, so proud of you. He's looking down and sending you birthday wishes just for you, do you hear him?

Tonight we had Emily's birthday dinner at her favorite joint, HuHot. She told me that the only thing that would have made this day better was if her dad was here. I couldn't agree more. Our baby's 11 J and I can't believe you aren't here to give her the 11 spankin's and the 11 kisses.

Thanks for checking in.

L