Friday, December 22, 2006

Best Present Ever

Christmas means many things to many people, but this time of year is important to me for a particular reason. It's the time of year I first met this little tyke. 13 years ago on Christmas night, I was in our local hospital, laboring to deliver her.

Roger works at this hospital, so I had been a little concerned that when the big day finally arrived, droves of his coworkers would be flocking into the delivery room to take a peek at what was going on between my legs. To make matters even more intense, I had chosen to go "no drugs" and "all natural" for the delivery, figuring it would truly be a rite of passage in my journey as a woman. (A choice that ensured this kid would never have a sibling.)

On Christmas Eve, I had played the piano for a church cantata with Songbird as the choir director - finishing up the night with a moving version of "Silent Night." At around midnight, I felt an intense pain. Feeling like I needed to pass gas, I kept waking up each hour, trying my best to relieve myself of the problem. The next morning, I frosted over 72 sugar cookies (the one holiday tradition in my family), all the while, feeling this overwhelming urge to PASS THAT GAS! Later in the evening, after spending the holiday at Roger's parents' house, we decided to go to the hospital. I technically wasn't due until January 14th, but the pains were about 5 minutes apart, so it was worth checking out.

Indeed, I was in labor, and fortunately the hospital was virtually empty. At 3:19AM on December 26th, I met the one person I KNEW was related to me. She was tiny, and it only took about 3 pushes to deliver her into the world. Weighing only 5 pounds, 10 ounces, Amber came into my life and changed everything, as well she should have.

Every Christmas, when I'm asked what I would like as a gift, I fumble for words. Because the greatest gift of all is having her in my life, and as long as I have that, I don't need anything else.

14 comments:

Desert Songbird said...

Beautiful story, Tigg, and a beautiful baby as well.

BTW, did you know that natural childbirth means not wearing makeup?

Have a wonderful Christmas, and joyous Amber birthday, and thanks for being a blogging buddy.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift to receive!!!!

Merry Christmas, Tiggerlane.

willowtree said...

We hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas and Healthy New Year.

From WT, MDW and the furries.

(Sorry it's not personalised, but if I wrote individual greetings to everyone I'd miss out on Christmas Lunch, and you know I'm not going to let that happen.)

Dan said...

What a sweet post Tiggerlane! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Love, Dan

Pamela said...

Another person I know who shares a birthday with Christmas

Did you make it through all natural??



Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

Tiggerlane said...

desert songbird - Guess I didn't know about the makeup thing. Can I still claim "au natural?"

Pamela - They ended up giving me one dose of Stadol. Which supposedly "took the edge off." Other than that, I was drug-free. The worst part was the 2nd-degree tear, but it healed nicely. Not that you'd want to see!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL! Looking forward to those post-holiday stories.

Kila said...

Truly the best present ever!

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday!

Anonymous said...

Terrific story.

She's beautiful. She's yours. =)

mist1 said...

That was lovely.

tiggerprr said...

Great story! :) They do change life, for the better! :)

Angelina said...

Man, you almost had me in tears.

M@ said...

Not even a new chocolate phone?

Damn. They're gonna send you back to Mexico.

piglet said...

that is so COOL! i didn't know you have a christmas baby too :) how precious she is.

i began labor on christmas eve too, that's cool to meet another that TOTALLY gets it :)

Anonymous said...

Tears! That was such a lovely post.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday to Amber - I am a bit late but my hostage negotiator was slacking.

Happy 2007!