This Is the Start of Something Good- Cohen's Birth Story (Part 1)

I'm listening to one of my favorite Gavin DeGraw songs, Follow Through, and the first line seemed very fitting to be the title of this post.

Baby Casper was due to arrive on February 10th 2009. I had begun to dialate two weeks prior to my due date making me and my doctor hopeful he would be here by the 10th, at each of my appointments my doctor would say I'll probably be seeing you soon. Casper however had different plans. I had gone into pre-term labor three times in the nine months prior each time requiring a visit to the hospital and now it was GO time but Casper had now decided he wanted to stay inside-kids! I went in to see my doctor, the amazing Pamela Boyer, on the 13th she told me she would only let me go 10 days over my due date. All I could think was, "seriously!?"

me and my belly looking at the camera on Christmas day. 6 weeks to go

I had a NTS (non stress test) scheduled on Monday the 16th and Wednesday the 18th to measure my fluid and make sure the baby was ok. John had Monday off due to presidents day so we both made the trek up to UCLA that morning. I was hooked up to the monitors, the residents came in and did the ultra sound and took measurements, then told me they were going to call Dr. Boyer and let her know the results. About 10 minutes later they came back and said that they were really busy so to come back that night. I was really confused, I asked what they meant by "come back tonight"? To which they responded, "to be induced". Apparently my fluid was low and Dr. Boyer knew I was ready to have the baby so she decided to get the ball rolling; besides, I was one week past my due date. Sweet, he was coming and coming soon!

John and I left excited and shocked. Having your baby's birth scheduled (sort of) is a strange thing and not at all how I pictured labor. John had mentioned how it was all supposed to happen...It would be in the middle of the night and he would be sleeping. I would awake from contractions and after a while I would clench his leg and in a serious tone say, "John, I think it's time." He would then spring out of bed run around the house like a maniac throwing random things into a bag, close it (with clothes hanging out of it), quickly get dressed, run out to the car and drive away only to realise he had left me at home. That clearly was not how it was going to play out, sorry bud.

As we drove home I just kept thinking how surreal it all was. All my worries and insecurities were coming back and in a few hours I was going to be a mom. After running some errands and napping we went down to the beach to eat our pita's and spend our last remaining hours as two together. It was nice to have that time with just John:)

(the pictures with us in them were not very attractive so I opted for scenery to remember this night)

We got home, I cried and John gave me a blessing. Everything was going to work out. It is so strange how you can be so overwhelmed with so many different emotions. I was super excited to become three but sad that we would no longer be two.

We got to the hospital at 8 pm. They were still super busy, it was raining outside and you know what they say, rain brings babies, and man was that true. I was in a recovery room for 4 hours waiting to start this blessed event. Kerilynn, Cory, and Janae came up to keep us company. (**I wonder why they did not just have me come in the next morning instead of having to stay up all night with out sleep?)

this is me shortly after arriving to the hospital. We were put in a recovery room while waiting for a delivery room to come available.

**Because of my loquacious nature this is becoming ridiculously long. I have decided to break it up. Stay tuned for the next installment (tomorrow I promise)**