Curry and Curry, burritos, and ranch dressing

Since I shared the story of the day Riley was born on her birthday this year, Mommy guilt has me typing one up for Leighton right now, too (I always feel the need to keep things fair and equal around here!).  I remember most of the details of the days before, during, and after Leighton's arrival pretty well.  Including what I ate!  Of course ....

My last appt with my Dr before Leighton was born was on a super rainy day.  We were living on 71st between 1st and 2nd and needed to get down to 1st between 30th and 33rd.  Our choices were subway, cab, bus, or walk.  We had been bussing down to our appointments (even though Roy really was never a fan of the bus).  It just made more sense though since it went right along 1st and 2nd Aves and it saved us waddling 'walking with effort' (that's exactly the phrase Roy used when I asked him if I was waddling!) to/from Lex and Park on both ends of the journey.  But, in the rain, the busses were barely moving since traffic was soooo slow.  That meant cab and bus were both out.  We figured the time to walk up to the subway, wait for it to come, and then walk back down again wouldn't be that much different than if we just walked the whole way, so that's what we did.  I felt fine during the walk.  Felt fine sitting in the waiting room.  But when we got into the exam room, I could barely bend my legs to get my pants on and off.   Oops - maybe I overdid it a wee bit?!?!  Dr said there was very little progress and no sign of baby yet.

Roy had to stay for a meeting at NYU, so I walked with MAJOR effort up to the subway on my own to get home.  My legs were so stiff.  I stopped at Curry and Curry for our favorite dishes on the walk (and didn't dare sit down while I waited for them to prepare it for fear of not being able to use my legs to stand up again!) and carried the delicious smelling bag of goodness on the train home while everyone glared at me!  The walk from the train to our apartment must have taken me 3 times what it normally did.  I could barely move my legs.  I kept worrying I would go into labor and I wouldn't be able to walk or bend or move my legs at all!  Thank goodness the elevator was working or Roy would have found me on the front step eating our dinner right out of the delivery containers with my hands!

The weekend went by with no signs of labor and my legs slowly started feeling less stiff and painful.  Getting dressed and undressed and walking became normal again (well, the new normal at 9+ months pregnant, anyway!)  Good thing because on Monday afternoon, we got "the" call that I'd be heading in for an induction (I was 4 days overdue) at 8pm.

I was really wishing for burritos and ranch dressing - NO, not together - ick! for dinner, so we ordered in some burritos and tacos and grabbed some carrots and ranch dressing from the grocery store down the street.  We decided not to walk to the hospital this time ;)  And we didn't have to make the decision of cab or bus or subway because Jackie and John volunteered (well, Jackie volunteered John!!) to drive us down.  We took our little hospital bag and left with the excitement of knowing that next time I'd be back we'd have a baby with us!

My body cooperated well with the induction and I didn't even end up requiring more than the catheter - I was so glad to not even need the pitocin.  I did, however, need an epidural!  Roy and my Dr both thought I was a little crazy for thinking I could go much farther without it, as I was having some crazy long contractions all back to back (that caused us to see those burritos again - yuck!), but as I've mentioned a few times in the past, I am a wee bit stubborn!  The epidural was lovely - I pressed on my little 'happy button' every time I needed a little top up.  Made for a very relaxing labor and delivery (a little different than with Riley a few years later!!).  Unfortunately our Dr didn't get to be there for the delivery since they got busy with some women needing immediate assistance with delivery while I was just chilling with my happy button perfectly content, and then he went off shift.  The Dr who did deliver Leighton was one of our other favorites from the practice, so we were very pleased to have her there with us. Since I was doing fine just 'laboring down' on my own, they left me in peace until around 9am on Tuesday morning.

And at 10:15am Leighton Michael Joseph was born!  We had a boy!  The whole pregnancy, Roy was convinced we were having a boy, but I never had a strong feeling of boy or girl until the very end when I was starting to think maybe we were having a baby boy.  Leighton was born with one arm raised above his head like a little super hero!  He had lots of dark hair and the signature giant big toes of his Daddy's side of the family. He was 7lbs 10.9oz and 20.5" long.  The nurses laughed that he was feisty and annoyed with being poked and prodded as they checked him over.

Becoming a Mommy was such an amazing moment for me.  I had been waiting a long time and it felt so natural and perfect.  I still remember the flood of emotions I would get when looking at him, feeding him, and holding him.  There is no way to describe it in words.  Just overwhelming love and content and pride.  I loved every minute home with Leighton as we learned all the ins and outs of being parents.  Leighton took it easy on us and was a very easy little baby. My biggest struggle was putting him down to nap when he did because I just wanted to hold him all the time!

It's very hard to believe 6 years has passed since the day he was born.  To think that this giant kid was once that little baby is so strange and amazing!