I had been married to my husband, Liji, for nearly six years when I found out I was pregnant. Previously, we had decided that we didn’t want children. We weren’t doing anything to prevent having a child and for the past six years nothing happened so we just figured that we couldn’t have children. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves we decided that it was okay that we couldn’t have kids and that our lives were pretty great.
It was Saturday morning September 25, 2010 that Liji and I were on our walk to the downtown farmers market and I started to feel a little icky. As we got to the market I continued to feel worse and worse. I got to the point where I couldn’t even stand up and I felt like vomiting. Liji walked back to the house to get the car and came back to pick me up. We started to discuss what could be wrong and that discussion led us to the store to purchase a pregnancy test. I took the test and it was positive. A major rush of emotions ran through me. I began sobbing and sobbing and no they were NOT tears of joy. I was utterly distraught. I literally felt like my life was over.
I cried for a couple more weeks and then eventually got used to the idea that I was going to have a child. Over the next nine months I actually became excited about the whole idea of being a mother. The funnest part was to hear the comments my fifth grade students made throughout the pregnancy. They made comments about how big my belly was getting and how many times I would go to the bathroom. They always inquired about what I was going to do with the baby after it was born. They wanted to know if it was going to be a vegetarian like me and if I would take it to India. The suspense of not knowing if it was a boy or girl was just as fun for them as it was for me.
On May 11 Liji and I went to see our friend Nick’s show Urine Town and decided to stop for a late night piece of pizza at The Pie Hole afterwards. When we got home, I went to bed and woke up around 1:00 am with a tummy ache. I went to the bathroom thinking that I would feel better, but I couldn’t go so I went back to bed. 20 min later the same pain came back, but I ignored it and kept sleeping. The pain came back again and I decided to wake Liji because it was so intense I felt like crying. He insisted that we go to the hospital. I still didn’t think it was labor at this point because I wasn’t due for five more days. When we got to the hospital they told me that I was in labor. I took birthing classes so I felt ready to do it as natural as possible with no medicine.
I stood for most of the labor because that is what felt best for me. At around hour 16ish I was getting to the point where the pain was getting really, really, really bad. I was dilated to a ten but my water still had not broke. The nurse was off to my side getting everything ready to break my water when I told her that I couldn’t take the pain anymore and I had to push. I screamed and pushed and my water broke. It felt like a water balloon popping and blood and water shot out across the room. After that point I threw the birthing class out the window. I was taught to be calm and breath and focus. Ha ha ha I was everything but calm. I was screaming like a mad woman. It was so painful. I was pushing and screaming and sweating for I think around three hours. It wasn’t the best thing I have ever done, but it was definitely the most painful. It wasn’t the most beautiful thing either, but it was very weird.
The entire time Liji was so supportive. He did everything in his power to make me feel more comfortable. The doctors and staff were also great. They didn’t offer me an epidural because I asked them not to even mention it. All in all I did it without any medication. The only thing I had while in the hospital was 3/4 bag of saline solution through an IV. We had to ask the doctor if it was a boy or girl because they forgot to tell us right away. The doctor pointed her toward us and said “What is it?” It’s a girl! Having Mika on my chest immediately was such an indescribable feeling. I felt so happy at that moment.
