The Sunday to Forever: Acknowledgments

The Sunday to Forever table of contents:

1. Acknowledgments
2. At Home
3. The Hospital
4. Dylan
5. Musings

Many good stories start out with acknowledgments, so that’s where I’m going to start my birth story.

Thank you to Joshua who was by my side every step of the way. At every moment, it was incredibly meaningful to me that he was right there with me and that we did this amazing thing together.

Thank you to Sarah who was so happy when labor got started and got right on the road from Atlanta to come be with me. She brought crafts so she’d have something to do during the long wait and brought me a hoop, which I won’t be able to use for awhile, but I’m happy to have it! She updated everyone in the chat room regularly.  She’s previously given me all kinds of things, like a Moby wrap, baby clothes, some cloth diaper things, and birth supplies, including a fetoscope which I loved using to listen to Dylan’s heartbeat. Sarah was one of the most supportive people during my pregnancy, and I was very happy to have her there for my labor.

Thank you to Kitty, who brought cute little toys for Dylan, a penguin pillow pet for me (which I’ve been wanting for ages!), and brought me the Secret Circle book series. I loved those books in high school, and I hear it’s becoming a movie now. Joshua brought the books to the hospital for me, and they kept me company during my hospital stay.

Thank you to Lee who made a birth day cake for Dylan (or for the rest of us, anyway!) I was neutral on the whole birth day cake idea, because I’m not much of a cake eater. Then, somehow, Lee managed to make the exact perfect cake. I pretty much ate the whole thing in about three days after getting home. It was the most delicious cake I’ve ever had.

Thank you to Robert who ran out to get me Tums during labor! Robert and Lee also brought me Chipotle meals from Atlanta. Between that and the cake, my taste buds were happy in the days after returning home from the hospital.

Thank you to Rebecca, who went grocery shopping for me during labor. She’s a vegetarian, but she bought me salami anyway. She also brought me the red Moby wrap I’ve coveted for years. She’s previously given me all sorts of other baby things, too, including a birth ball, a Moses basket (which I love!), the greatest diaper bag in the world, diapering supplies, and birth supplies. I was present for most of Rebecca’s labor and birth a few years ago, and I’ll always be extremely grateful for that experience, too.

Thank you to Troy, Puck, McKenna, and Declan, who were also present for my labor. Sometime after contractions got intense and I holed up in my room, Joshua said that everyone was downstairs rooting for me. I had a mental image of being held aloft by the foundational support of all my friends.

Later, when I went to the hospital, Sarah and Rebecca came along. I didn’t end up letting them back into the room, but I appreciated their support and willingness to be there with me.

A huge thank you to everyone who cleaned up at the house. I don’t know who did what, but coming home to things being cleaned up was awesome. I’m especially impressed that someone(s) did laundry, given some of the mess I made during labor!

I’m also thankful to all the people who participated in the chat room, which was most of the previously mentioned people who were physically present for the labor, plus lots of people who participated virtually: Brian, Clove, Trish, Charlee, Leah, Frank, Eric, Rana, Emily, Sean, Sarena, Olivia, Jessica, and Julia.

I’ll also mention here the meaning behind the title, The Sunday to Forever. I know it’s common to name birth stories by the name of the child, as in Dylan’s Birth Story. I really feel very strongly that this story is mine, though, so using that title bugged me. But calling it Issa’s Birth Story would just be confusing. So I decided to go with something else entirely.

I’ve long said that a day isn’t over until you’ve slept. If you think about it, you know what I mean: if you wake up for work on Saturday morning at 4am, that’s clearly Saturday. But if you’re up until 4am on Friday night, you still think of it as Friday. It’s the sleeping that makes a new day. I’ve always loved this joke about time, which has some really funny implications given some of the partying I’ve done.

I was up all day Sunday, then before I got any sleep my water broke, then labor started, then, then… So while Dylan was born on a Tuesday, I hadn’t had a night’s sleep, and I still thought of it as Sunday. Then I was in the hospital where time kind of stands still anyway, so I couldn’t keep track of the days. I went home on Thursday, and I thought maybe then normal time would resume. But, of course, normal time will never resume around here, at least for a couple of decades. Life has a whole different rhythm now, even as many things stay the same.

I woke up on Sunday morning in liminal space, and it’s impossible to mark a specific end to that time. I think of this birth story as the tale of a Sunday that has lasted and will last forever.

Stay tuned.

The Sunday to Forever table of contents:

1. Acknowledgments
2. At Home
3. The Hospital
4. Dylan
5. Musings