The first time I held my daughter
For me, getting pregnant is a very significant event, and due to my Lupus staying pregnant is even more so. Even still, being on bed-rest and having weekly stress tests was no biggie if it meant I got a baby out of the deal.
We decided early on to find out the gender of our baby, and the first time I saw her in an ultrasound I wept and wept at the beautiful image of the life my husband and I had created. I’m a fairly practical person, but the thought of having a daughter put me into a state of bliss I didn’t know was possible. I held onto the blurry black and white sonogram snapshots of her as if my life depended on it, stroking the cute little nose in the picture which looked nothing like my own.
Even though my pregnancy was less than standard, my labor (thankfully) was as smooth as silk. I pushed for less than twenty minutes while my family congregated just outside the delivery room door, but when my daughter arrived she didn’t make a sound. Of course I was terrified something had gone horribly wrong. For several minutes there was absolute silence while I cried and looked frantically from face to face, hoping for some sign of an answer from one of the nurses. There was nothing amiss; my brand new baby girl was investigating the room, checking out her new surroundings and making assessments about the new world. She was transverse, meaning she was born face up, her huge brown eyes wide open blinking at everyone around her. She had the most intelligent, beautiful eyes and was completely perfect in every way. As soon as she was swaddled and placed into my waiting arms, I burst into grateful hiccuping sobs.
The thought I had in that very moment, the thought that has guided me through the last thirteen years was that I was born to be her mother .
Childbirth is such an incredible moment, and I’d love to know what went through your mind when you held your baby for the first time? By replying, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and a $50 donation in your name to Global Giving.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Million Moms Challenge. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs October 17 to November 13, 2011. A random winner will be announced by November 15, 2011.