Welcome to the World, Lyric!

Part 1: "Honey, how much time do we have to waste dating when we already know we want to get married and have kids?"

When Eric and I decided we wanted to have a baby we wasted no time and the extent of my thoughts about it were, "Fun! Babies are cute and soft and this is without a doubt the best potential Dad I know. Sweet, lets try to make one!" Clearly I put a lot of thought into the details... Once that stick said my eggo was preggo life became an intense whirlwind of ups and downs, what if's, and excitement! I put amazing amounts of energy into facing issues I've had for years knowing that I could no longer cover all my problems with the assortment of unhealthy distractions I'd become so accustomed to. I wanted to be the best Mom I could be and I knew I wasn't mentally prepared. I grew leaps and bounds over the past 10 months (P.S. Pregnancy is 10 months, not 9 like they taught me in school! Not cool.) and Eric was an incredible inspiration and encouragement through every obstacle. The pregnancy hormones made it all the more fun! I stayed a busy girl for the 1st 8.5 months of pregnancy. I worked days and then in my spare time did lots of fun singing gigs and I also was in a play. The activity helped me stay positive and in good shape but it was exhausting! The last month and a half I rented movies and pigged out every day. (Seriously.)

Lyric 10 months.
Pic by Vo Photography.
http://www.voalaska.com/

A huge highlight of my pregnancy was, Hypnobabies, a program that Eric's brother turned us onto. For over 6 months we listened to hypnosis cd's and followed a program to help me create my own anesthesia during the birthing process. It was AWESOME! For anyone pregnant, check out the website! http://www.hypnobabies.com/ It helped me feel fearless throughout the pregnancy and when crunch time came I was able to endure most of my contractions (or pressure waves, as they call them) with more ease than expected. 

My body handled pregnancy very well so I can't complain. (I tried complaining but it resulted in lots of dirty looks from women who had a more difficult time. So I learned fast to appreciate my lot.) I even really enjoyed about 7 months worth of pregnancy! My belly was hilarious. I had so many fun new things to think about. And I'd never been treated so nicely by women in my entire life. The end was very uncomfortable though and I was ready for Lyric to get outta my belly!

Part 2: Birth Week!

Lyric 10 months.
Pic by Vo Photography.
http://www.voalaska.com/

Eric and I chose to give birth with midwives and no drugs. I'm so thankful that he encouraged this route. It was perfect for us. We went to Geneva Woods Birthing Center. All the staff was incredible! I didn't know what to expect with my birthing time. I was constantly thinking, was that a real contraction? Is it time yet? Will my water break? I was in early labor for at least 2 days. I had contractions coming fairly regularly, between 4-9 minutes apart. After checking in twice with the midwives to see how close we were sent home to wait until the contractions were EXACTLY 4 minutes apart. Contractions were getting stronger and I was getting extremely restless. Then, at close to 10pm on March 28th my water broke! I was surprised since only 8% of women have their water break before they are in active labor. But Eric and I were excited because we knew now the baby was coming out one way or another. We met the midwives at the birthing center at 10:15.  The contractions were much stronger now and after about 5 tough ones my body suddenly started to push! That FREAKED ME OUT! I had no idea my body was going to take over and push the baby out whether myself and the nurses were ready or not. I've only ever seen movies where the Dr says "Okay, time to push". But apparently that's the deal when you have an epidural and cant feel your lower half. Thank God I was prepared to go drug free because with how quickly things went that would not have been possible. I focused hard on pushing with the joy of knowing this was the final step to Lyric being here. It was empowering for me to experience pain with a purpose! I've survived terrible worthless pain in my life and finally I was feeling pressure that was going to result in something beautiful! At 12:07 (007 military time. Lyric's gonna be a playa!) he was here!!! It was by far the most intense 90 minutes of my life and I will never forget it! 3 hours later Eric and I were home with our beautiful healthy baby boy!

I wanted to share my positive experience. While I was pregnant I heard one ideal birth story and about 100 traumatic, negative birth stories and it scared the crap out of me so I want to make sure other women know that it doesn't have to be a scary and horrifying experience. Our bodies are designed for this and fear is the #1 thing tainting the experience. So embrace it! Be open to things not going as planned but know that it can be beautiful!

What was the best part about your first pregnancy?