I have 3 kids. All 3 were born in February. One in the beginning of the month, one in the middle, and one at the very end. Is that weird? I thought it was weird but my doctor said no. Childbirth, in my opinion, is not pretty. I didn’t find it beautiful or magical or spiritual. At all. The end result was all that and more. Well, sometimes. I’m pretty honest and real about stuff like this. Downright candid, if you will—see what I did there? So if I’m being honest, childbirth is nasty. Each birth has its own story, and that goes for every woman everywhere who’s ever given birth. Without going into any icky details because, well, just eww, I’d like to describe those 3 different days / experiences…

Nicole was first. Ah, Nicole… Nicole made me go from wanting 4 kids to wanting 1. She was 2 weeks late, huge at 9 lbs 10 oz (with only demerol) and was born on February 29th. So I gave birth to a toddler with no birthday. She was born with so much hair that the nurses styled it. Boy was she gorgeous. Almost needed a c-section. Did need iv fluids for 24 hours after. Looked and felt like a truck hit me. Pretty sure the nurses thought I had a little postpartum because I didn’t want to hold her when Bruce wasn’t there. Truth was, my arms were so weak, I was afraid I would drop her. My sister had told me that giving birth felt like really bad cramps. When I saw her the next day I may have said some colorful, not so nice stuff to her.

Baby #2 was my Michael. Since Nicole was late and so big, my new doctor did not want me to go too long, so I was induced. Since I knew when I was going in, my hair was done, as was my make-up and nails. I also had an epidural. Didn’t get one with Nicole because I thought they would paralyze me. Clearly, that wasn’t the best decision because it took me 4 years to get over that experience enough to do it again. I did not feel the contractions at all once that stuff kicked in. I was watching TV and the nurse would tell me when the contraction hit so I could push. I told the anesthesiologist that I loved him. He looked at Bruce who immediately said he didn’t care as long as I was happy… Apparently Mike had the cord wrapped around his neck for a few seconds but nobody told me til much later. Guess they knew I’d freak out. He was only 5 ounces less than Nicole at 9 lbs 5 ounces but his delivery was a walk in the park compared to Nick’s. I was all settled in my room in time to watch All My Children and didn’t look much different than when I got to the hospital that morning. God Bless the epidural…

My last and smallest baby at 8 lbs 2 ounces was my Dana. My little peanut. Again I was induced and again I had an epidural. I’m no fool. It didn’t work as well as with Mike, but nothing crazy. I remember there was another woman in labor across the hall from me and my doctor was going back and forth between us. She made it into a race to see who would deliver first. She said it would certainly be me since this was my 3rd and the first for the other woman. She was right. It was quick. We wanted to be surprised with Nicole. We decided to find out with Mike because I was sick of yellow and green. With Dana, we wanted to know the sex but she wouldn’t cooperate, leading me to believe she was a girl. As she was entering the world, my doctor was saying “come on, are you Dana or Jackson?!!” Again I was settled in my room and watching TV, looking the same as I did when I got there. The next day when Bruce brought Nicole and Michael to meet Dana, Michael walked in and wouldn’t look at me. HE WOULDN’T LOOK AT ME. He wasn’t quite 2 years old and I guess he didn’t get it. I cried myself to sleep when they left….

After both Michael and Dana were born, when the nurse would ask if I wanted them to bring me the baby for the night, I very politely said no thanks. Were they joking? I knew what was waiting for me at home by that point. Complete chaos and exhaustion. I wanted to sleep and not deal for a bit. Is that wrong? I didn’t really care if it was at the time…

I always heard that with girls you gain weight all over and with boys you don’t. I have to say, with Nicole I gained EVERYWHERE. Same but not as bad with Dana. With Mike it was totally different. Just a large basketball in front but not too much everywhere else. Also, is it bad that my youngest is 18 and I still haven’t lost that damn baby weight? Still trying. Maybe some day…..

Would love to hear some of your birth day stories….

Hopefully not too candidly,

Donna