Today is Edward’s first birthday. Since I told you about the day Ruby was born on her birthday, I thought it only fair to tell you about the day that Edward came into the world.
The midwife had told us at our last checkup that he was going to be born that night, so we called my mother and she drove down to Baltimore from Plattsburgh and we were ready to go do this thing, but it was false labor, so we sat around feeling like idiots for another week. Simone had pretty much given up hope that Edward was ever going to be born and had resigned herself to a life of misery.
My mother was not going to drive back and forth 10-12 hours every time we thought it might happen, so she just stayed, and Simone mostly moped in bed for the weekend. Then, on Monday night, as we were preparing giant bowls of ice cream to east as we watched the previous night’s “The Amazing Race” on the DVR, Simone’s water broke.
This was about a quarter past eight in the evening, so Simone called the midwife while I rushed around in a panic collecting our bags, and anything else I could fit in my arms. The midwife told Simone that we had plenty of time, and that she herself would have to get to the hospital, so if we left right away we would have to wait for her anyway, so we might as well hang out at home for awhile. Simone thought we might watch The Amazing Race after all, but when she saw me, standing by the door panting, my arms laden with everything I could carry, she decided maybe we should just go to the hospital.
This turned out to be a very good thought, because by the time we got to the hospital, her contractions were only a few minutes apart. We checked into the maternity floor at 9:20, and from there things started moving very quickly. Simone got a bed, and the midwife did finally arrive, just in time to tell Simone that there was no time for any drugs, and it was time to have the baby. Simone responded by screeching at the top of her lungs for some #$*^!@$# drugs, but alas to no avail.
Edward was born at 10:21 pm on Monday, March 29th, exactly two weeks after Ruby’s birthday, and just 1 hour and 39 minutes short of his due date. And also, as you math whizzes have already deduced, only two hours after Simone’s water broke. He weighed 9 lbs 13.9 oz, and was 22″ long. The only complication this time was that Edward had a broken collarbone, which meant we had to hold him a certain way, and buy him button down onesies, but he’s fine now, and it seemed a lot less traumatic than Ruby’s birth, but that could have been because we are old pros at this sort of thing now.
Happy Birthday Edward. I know you can’t read yet, or talk, or understand any of this, but someday you will look back at this and be thankful that we loved you far more than ice cream or The Amazing Race.