Love, February 13th, 2023

We were all sick all weekend, Pie Guy and I taking turns napping and caring for Tigress… little kids really are a hub of germs.

But all I can think about today, is how it was exactly a year ago when I was bouncing on a yoga ball, drinking la croix (we bought it in bulk back then), eating cheddar chips, watching the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin, and just counting those contractions.

Tigress made us wait another day for her appearance, but the excitement of the nurse telling me that yes, this time it likely wasn’t false labor (I had contractions basically the whole month leading up), this time she was calling ahead to the ER for me, and her congratulating on me on making it, I can’t forget it. Pie Guy took a picture of me in my men’s sweat pants and dinosaur tshirt (not much fit by then), and I remember crying from excitement and pain, I wanted to meet her so much.

This year I nearly watched the Super Bowl out of nostalgia, going into labor Super Bowl Sunday meant that it was playing at the nurses station when we arrived, and watching the halftime show as I flipped channels in the birthing suite (epidurals are wonderful for pain management, but I still didn’t sleep as my daughter took her sweet time). (Pie guy brought his work laptop to work during those hours of stalled labor, he wanted his boss to have no excuse to contact him in the coming weeks) (him taking a makeshift paternity leave for a couple months was unprecedented at his old school workplace).

Pregnancy was not fun, muscle pain, hot flashes, insomnia, fainting spells, as well as that delightful all day nausea and heartburn (they say hairy babies cause heartburn, and my was my little monster born covered in fur) (she had tufts of hair at the tips of her ears like a werewolf my heart).

I was in labor for a day and half, but today a year later all I remember is the excitement of getting to meet one of the absolutely most important persons in my life.

Love, February