Things I don't want to forget about delivery

Delivery. Ouch. There are a bunch of things I do want to forget about that oh-so-painful day. One being the nurse who told me my epidural was working. Excuse me, ARE YOU IN MY BODY? I CAN FEEL EVERYTHING. Another was the amount of "water" that comes out when your water breaks. Why doesn't anyone warn you about that? Ahem, anyways... there are 5 things that I definitely don't want to forget about that day, and I'd like to share them with you!

Our first family photo

1. Charlie's first cry

After 12 hours of labor, and 45 minutes of pushing, nothing was more satisfying than hearing my baby cry for the first time. He was an anxious little guy- he let out his first scream before he was even all the way out! I remember how sweet that little yelp was, and  I started immediately crying as I felt every eye in the room look at me to see my reaction. I have to say, I never really understood when moms would be like "I heard him cry, and I just lost it." I'd be like "uhh, ok? who cares if he cried? I'd just want to hold him." No. It was the most amazing sound I have ever heard. 

2. When he was laid on my chest

When he FINALLY came out, he was immediately laid on my chest. I remember thinking 3 things. 1) Wow, he is really cute. Thank God! 2) This is the most beautiful, blood covered human I've ever laid my eyes on! and 3) LOOK at all that HAIR! (By the way, his beautiful hair is the only reason I was able to keep pushing after what seemed like 3 years. My doctor saying "wow, Kasey! He has SO much hair! he's almost out!............ 30 minutes later............ he's almost out, Kasey! Oh, his beautiful hair!")

     3. The look on my husband's face

After checking out my baby for about 5 seconds and how gorgeous he was, my eyes focused on my husband. That is a sight I never want to forget. Honestly, it's always freaked me out to see men cry. I'm not sure why but sadly, it's true. However, this did not freak me out. When I looked up, I saw my husband looking at our beautiful son. He was uninhibited, crying and smiling at our beautiful miracle. I can still see his face vividly in my mind. I fell more in love with him that day!

4. Our very first time alone

After we had a few minutes to ourselves, I sent Ryan into the waiting room as I knew my mother-in-law was out there worrying her butt off. Ryan left, and it was just us. Me and Charlie, meeting for the first time. I sat there in awe and stared at my beautiful rainbow baby. DID I REALLY CREATE THAT? He is SO perfect. How on earth does he have all the right body parts? 10 fingers? How does that happen? God is so good.

       5. Announcing Charlie's name

There were a couple reasons we kept Charlie's name private until he was born. The first was that since we're impatient petes, we had to find out the gender via ultrasound (actually, I'm the impatient pete. My husband would prefer to wait. yeah right! I needed to know!). We wanted at least one thing to be a surprise. The second reason was because we had our minds made up, and we didn't want people to tell us how much they hated the name "Charles." For some reason if the baby isn't born yet, people feel like they have a say in what you name them. And even if your mind is made up, people have no problem telling you that they once knew a stripper, or a drug dealer, or an annoying kid in high school who had the same name. Keep it to yourself, kids. It's just easier.

Charles August Duffy

Those are the 5 things I never, ever want to forget. Although I've never been in such pain in my life, I wouldn't take it back for anything. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if this experience can ever be lived up to with our subsequent children

What are your most cherished moments of delivery?