No-Denberr 17th

Chloe is so funny. She's had a really hard time pronouncing the word "November". Wouldn't be a big deal except for her strong desire to tell the world it was her BIRTHDAY today. :-)
M: No-VEMMMM-berr
C: No-DENN-
M:-no no, VVVEMMM-ber,
C: DDDDDVVVVEEEM-ber
M: No-VEEMMM-ber
C: No-DVEN-ger...
M: NO
C: NO
M: VEM
C: VEM
M: BER
C: BER
M: NO-VEM-BER
C: NO...Deh...Veh..no wait, NOVENGABER
M: ...good enough...actually, just say eleven seventeen.
C: eleben-
M: -NEVERMIND, Happy Birthday, Chloe, you were born TODAY.

And she was. Five very short years ago I was very uncomfortable and in pain, got in the car, threw up on the way to the hospital, got checked in (at 6cm, woohooo, over halfway there), got fluids and felt like I was on top of the world...after that incredibly low dip every five minutes..., played triominoes with Craig, got lectured by the nurse about how I was supposed to be uncomfortable enough not to play games, was told to go walk the hallways, endured contractions while walking, labored for about 14 more hours, tried to ask for an epidural, but then felt a very strong urge to push when I got up to use the bathroom, cried my eyes out and told the nurse nevermind, confirmed that I was dilated to a 10 and completely effaced, pushed for less than an hour, had the doctor explain to me that my baby was having a hard time coming out, oops, nevermind, she was stuck, showed me a couple of instruments (one looked like an oversized set of salad tongs and the other a small machine with a tube hooked to a suction cup, called a vacuum...you can guess where this is going), was told that the salad tongs hurt a lot when you don't have an epidural, opted for vacuum, pushed some more, listened as my doctor started yelling and all the nurses started bouncing around me frantically, then a male nurse recording the event was called into action and performed what my husband described as a pro-wrestling elbow stunt on my stomach, and then...release. And a baby on my chest. A girl.
9 lbs, 2 oz. No wonder she got stuck! Narrowly missed a C-section by that much. And I was a mother.
Didn't really feel much different, but if you ask me, I was a mother all along. And if you ask me, all women are, whether they have kids or not.
Thank you, Chloe, for making it official.



Here is her slideshow! I finally configured a format that isn't so big that it takes 3 days to download, and youtube seems to download it faster than blogger.
We love you, Chloe, thanks for all you do and all you are. Thanks for being the "guinea pig" oldest child, and doing it with flying colors. We promise to cherish every moment of the last year we have you at home!