Labor Day

A year ago today I felt the first pangs of labor. I was already over a week past my due date, so it was a great relief to feel something. I was tired of hearing the endless advice to eat-spicy-food-drink-wine-walk-like-a-duck-have-sex. We had been to the midwives and Emily scheduled my induction for the following Monday. I had a procedure done called "sweeping the membrane" (you don't want the details on that one, trust me). I had an ultrasound. I was hanging out in M's office when I felt a shift from general crampiness into rhythmic contractions. He drove us home. I remember the mood as being celebratory. We played MarioKart and ordered a Salvatore's pizza. Almost 3 days would pass before we would see Laurel face to face, but those first few hours were exactly how I always pictured labor to be....M massaging my back, hot showers, quiet music, and the most energizing feeling of anticipation...a thousand Christmas Eves all at once.