I had cabin fever due to the fact that I had been on bed rest and it was a tricky winter in Illinois. I couldn’t believe it was already Valentine’s Day and not only had I prepared, but my nesting wasn’t nearly complete. The fridge was down to water and deli meat and something that was once believed to be Spanish was now brown and had a smell that nearly burnt my nose hairs.
It was 3 o’clock in the morning and I couldn’t sleep because I was missing Tim and it was hard to get comfortable 4 days before my due date. I went into the shell of a room that held a crib in the center and started hanging pictures and getting things ready for my new arrival. It took me four hours but the room was finally looking like a nursery. I called my mom and asked if she wanted to get Zyan, my first bundle of joy, ready because I wanted to run to the grocery store to get a few things. She questions my decision and finally agreed as long as my brother Joseph could come along. I thought the more the merrier.
Zyan was so happy to see me pull up, I could hear her scream from the driveway, “Mommies here! Mommies here!” Before I could walk up to the house she ran her 2-year-old body up to me and instinctively I picked her up. My mom screamed, “Put that girl down before you have a baby in my driveway!” As we all loaded ourselves into my Jeep, my mom was still going on about the dangers of picking up heavy things so close to my due date.
I apologized and said, “Sorry Mom. I did it before I realize what was happening.” I guess she wasn’t satisfied with my answer because she continued to speak on the topic until we pulled up to the store. Got to love mothers.
Once inside the store, she told my brother to only let me push the cart and he was responsible for filling it while she and Zyan went to the cafe to get breakfast.
Before I knew it my few items were now a cart over-flowing.
We had been walking around the store for nearly 2 hours. My mom and Zyan had joined us 30 minutes earlier and I wanted her to have snacks while she was at my mom’s. There I was carrying a small basket with her goodies. My mom grabbed it and said this is nearly 20 lbs. and you’re walking around with. Although I apologized, another lecture ensued and I wondered if I would be a mom like my mom. I smiled and thought, “I hope so.”
After we packed the car, I wanted to go across the lot and pick up a few things for the nursery. I realized that I didn’t even nearly have all the things I needed. We barely were able to close the door to the Jeep after that trip. I was craving orange juice so as I stopped to get gas, I went into the quick mart and grabbed an orange juice and some powdered donuts. I dropped my mom and Zyan off at her house and my brother Joseph, came with me to help me unload.
I was only two houses down and he didn’t mind. Besides, my mother insisted on it. He stayed and helped me put the groceries away. He also put the nursery items in the crib, although I told my mom I would wait for Tim to return before I completed the nursery. She reminded me of how Zyan was four days late and that I needed to rest.
Alone in my thoughts, I looked at the calendar and I thought, we will be really cutting it close. Tim is not due back until the night before my due date. I went into the nursery and started moving furniture and getting my hospital bag ready. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain. I ignored it at first and continued nesting. Again, a sharp pain, but this one took me down to the floor. I sat on the floor a few minutes then I was back at it. Once again the pain took me to the floor. I stayed on the floor longer this time. When the pain subsided I tried to stand and the pain took to me to the floor again, but this time I screamed out.
As I crawled to the master suite to grab the phone from my purse, the pain hit me along the entire way. I think I screamed out about 10 times as I crawled the 20 feet. I pulled the purse from my dresser and dumped the contents on the floor. I frantically shuffled through the mess looking for my cell phone. I cried out as I realized I left it on my dashboard. I was so mad at myself for not hooking the house phone up.
I crawled 50 feet down the hallway around the corner through the kitchen to my patio door. I opened the door and started to scream. Just as the pain hit me, I started to stand. I was back on the floor. Again, I started to stand and the pain hit me so bad that I was now lying on the floor on my side half-way on the patio in the fetal position, holding my stomach and screaming.
Thank God my neighbor was out jogging. She ran over to me. The look on her face was in complete shock as she was talking to a 911 dispatcher. She was asking me questions and although I wanted to answer I could only scream and point to my Jeep. I grabbed her phone and disconnected 911 and called my mom. I couldn’t speak at all. I was just screaming. She talked me through the pain and in less than a minute later my brother Joseph was carrying me to the Jeep.
My neighbor said she would lock up and take the keys to my mom, but she would wait for the first responders. As my brother drove me out of the neighborhood we saw the police, ambulance, and fire truck rushing in. He looked at me and asked if I wanted to go back. I think I used some unladylike words to express the fact that I wanted to go to the ER now. He laughed as if very amused then floored it to the ER.
As he helped me in a wheelchair and pushed me into the entrance my screams must have scared the entire department. A doctor ran over to me and placed his hand on my belly as a nurse was checking my post. He screamed, “She needs labor and delivery now!” They rushed me through the big double doors and the last thing I remember was fluorescent lights. The next thing I remember was waking up and seeing my brother looking at his cell phone.
As I looked around the festive room at all the hearts. I could hear my brother say, “She’s awake!” as I turned to see him walking towards me. It was my lovely mom. She started by telling me she loved me, followed by a lecture because she had seen I was working on the nursery again, then more love. The one phrase that stood out, “you have a beautiful daughter, born on Valentine’s Day.” I was overwhelmed with emotions and I immediately press the button to call a nurse to bring my baby.
As I said goodbye to my mom, my eyes were glued to the door and I eagerly awaited my daughter. As the nurse wheeled her in I tried to sit up and the pain from, yet another, C-section hit me, but I braved it because I was ready to hold my daughter. As the nurse wheeled her next to me and helped me raise my bed, she asked if I wanted to hold her. Before she could complete that sentence I had my arms stretched out for my baby. I pulled her next to me and gave her a gentle hug and kissed her head covered by a pink cap. I laid her on the bed and unwrapped her blanket so I could pull her cap off. I said to her, “You have all your toes, and fingers and a head full of curly hair.”
Once again I had fallen in love at first sight. My brother left the room and came back minutes later with the prettiest onesie that Read, ‘kisses 25 cents.’ It was perfect for my little Valentine’s Day miracle. I knew her name the first time I saw her. I changed her into the pretty onesie and said, “Zoey Love, you look beautiful in the very first gift from your uncle JJ” which is what we called him since his name is Joseph Jacob. He smiled and said, “That’s an awesome name.” I told him it is obvious why I named her Love and in Greek the meaning of the name Zoey is life.
What comes to your mind when you remember Valentine’s Day? Is it joy? Sadness? What is it? Please share in the comments below. I really would love to know.
Until next time, shine amongst the stars!
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Wow. What an intense story. I supposed Valentines Day was never the same after that – and always an extra reason for a great celebration.