a spud birth story.

[just got the gown on at check in]

Read about part 1 of spud's birth story [here]. Hold on folks...this is a whopper of a post.

Here is part two... spud's birth story...only fitting to be posted on my very first mother's day. Happy mother's day to all of you out there! Being a mom is fantastically amazing...no small feat.

1am

We called the maternity center, and told them that I thought my water broke... they said come on in. So we gathered up our hospital bag....and headed out the door.

2am

After matt and I excitedly got into the car with my mild contractions, we realized just down the street that he didn't pack any pants for himself. Ha. So we turned around, it was rather funny... probably because my contractions were just about nothing at this point.So we get to the hospital at 2am.

They checked my cervix...I was only a 1. ONE?! wtf. I was a one the week before. So, they really didn't believe me that my water broke, and I was kind of doubting it too. They said they might not keep me... but they did an amnisure test, two of them to be exact, to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. They were positive.... so I was guaranteed a baby in the next 24 hours. Yay! This was pretty exciting news. Holy shit we are having a baby today.

[pain is getting worse...]

[matt's excitement, hard to contain at this point]

3am

We waited for my midwife to come in... and maybe see if my labor would progress. I was 2 cm dilated, nothing big. But my contractions were picking up. I couldn't talk through them at this point. We were calling the grandparents... laughing... super excited.

We went over our birth plan with our midwife again...yes I wanted natural birth...no medications...peaceful delivery, healthy baby.

HA!

4am

This is probably when the excitement died...and gave way to extreme pain. Seriously the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Like bone ripping apart pain. I couldn't stand nor walk- so those lamaze class prep for positions/walking/etc went straight out the window. I was okay in between the contractions, but they were coming on quick, on top of each other without much rest. I was shaking in between the contractions- which I thought may have been transitioning- no such luck. All I could do was sit, and listen to my dear husband tell me on the monitor when I was 1/2 way through each contraction and hand me ice water. He was fantastic.

[ oh, yes there was that pain]

7am

 I was still dilated to 2cm. I asked for the epidural. My midwife said.... how about you take a bath first. Had I not been contracting I would have thought this was hilarious. Sure, a bath will miraculously take away all my pain. But I was game. Let's do the bath, then the epidural.

8am

 I was 4 cm dilated. I got the epidural. Hell yeah. This epidural was fantastic. The IV start, lumbar poke- no biggie now. I had crazy mind blowing contractions that now were my basis for 10 out of 10 pain on the pain scale. Nothing else compares in life now. Birthing a human is painful. But an epidural was definitely the way to go for me. Fantastic. Natural childbirth. HA. I was so silly. My pain tolerance is not as high as I thought. Hats off to women who can endure without the epidural... or any childbirth. This is a challenging task.

9am

I kept on progressing....without pain now. Little spud's heart rate would decelerate, nurses would rush in....flip me to my other side...then tell me to rest.

The epidural was unbelievably amazing. All was good again in the world. The excitement came back. We laughed about how silly I was... it was grand. Matt got to have me, his wife, back again without intense pain. It was also surprising I could feel my legs, they were a little tingly...I could even move my legs and flip from side to side a little. But no contraction pain. I couldn't even feel the contractions- it felt a little like cheating at labor.

 

[oh the wonderful epidural]

[we were finally able to listen to music once the epidural kicked in...before that point it was too chaotic with the pain]

[external monitoring and bracelets galore]

12pm

They checked me again... I was now 6cm dilated. They don't do cervical checks as often once your water breaks for risk of infection etc. I was just to tell them when I thought I needed to take a dump....for it probably meant the baby was in the birthing canal. I asked the nurse anesthetist if he could please turn down the epidural. He did such a fantastic job, but I really felt like I was missing out. I wanted some of the pain back. I wanted to feel little spud moving about for just one more day....our last day. I loved being pregnant...I loved our bond. Anyways, he thought I was crazy, but he turned it down a bit.

2pm

I told the nurses that I was shaking a bit, uncontrollably. Now this was my transition. They checked and I was 9cm dilated!!!

3pm

A few minutes later I was complete- 10 cm dilated!! Everyone got in their places.... midwife, nurses, infant warmer, matt washed his hands (getting ready to touch our little baby). We were game. She turned off my epidural, and said that I should have a baby in about 5 minutes... she could see her little head. So I pushed. And pushed. And pushed some more.

4pm

Now this was more painful than my contractions pre-epidural. Holy shit. I could feel everything....and it wasn't just for 5 minutes. I had been pushing for an hour and a half now sans epidural. I was getting exhausted. I believe I might have asked for the vacuum to be used.... episiotomy- that sounded like a fabulous idea. Hell cut the baby out of me....c-section anyone?! My midwife said no to the vacuum, that at this point she would have taken the vacuum off.  Her little head was crowning...matt could see it... he was in disbelief. My midwife asked if I wanted to feel her head.... I said eww. no thanks.

4:49pm

I pushed with all of my might...and then I heard my midwife say...Lindsey use two hands!! What?! Lindsey use two hands!!!- and I looked down to see and I grabbed our little cora with my two hands and pulled her out of my body and onto my belly. Holy shit. This was unbelievable, is this even possible?? Did this just happen?? Matt was in awe.... I was blown away... this little human I pulled out of myself was ours! This was our cora.... all hot and red and beautiful and healthy.

Matt cut the cord... they checked her out. Super APGAR scores... Cora Elm was born at 4:49pm April 18th 2012. She was 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and 19" long.

 We tried to breastfeed right away and I thought we had a latch. I hemorrhaged a lot... got pitocin... hemorrhaged more. Whatevs. The fundal massages just about killed me though- where the nurses press on your uterus through your belly to get it to stop bleeding and cramp up. But it was all fine. I'm a mom!! Matt's a dad!! This is crazy.

 

12am

We made it to our postpartum room...very nice....but I just knew we had to go asap. We asked to leave 24 hours after delivery....which was their minimum length of stay possible. Sure, cora wasn't latching.... just had her frenulum cut (tongue tied)....she wouldn't stop crying...matt and I hadn't slept more than 1 hour in 48 hours. But we were done. We wanted to go home. We could be better parents in our own home, less stress. So we left the next day at 5pm as parents, with our little Cora in the back seat. What an unbelievable day.

hospital bag revisited...

So I thought I should re-visit this hospital list that I made back [here]. Some of things were great, others were silly. We had a normal delivery, healthy baby, but a fussy baby. We have been in survival mode every since delivery trying to figure out how to soothe our babe.... so that may have changed a few of our items and hospital stay. But, perhaps this could help the preggers out there trying to pack realistically.

The green writing is what I would change for next time....

Hospital Bag:

• camera- a point and shoot for matt to use...that does black and white for my unflattering labor pictures.-the black and white pictures I love... except we had the shades drawn and lights off for me to focus on being calm...so all of our photos are dark. Ooops. Next time we will know.
• music- our iphones with playlists and pandora and little speaker Pandora wouldn't work for some reason in the hospital, so we had music from our iphones... it was great with the epidural... but during real painful contractions music made me nauseated. I needed silence and my dear husband telling me I could make it through.
• camera and iphone battery charger
• chap stick.... maybe two of them.
• my own disolveable zofran... can I take this while laboring? My least favorite thing in the world is vomiting. I will ask this of our midwife next appointment Funny thing, Matt was the only one to use Zofran. Right before I was going to start pushing matt felt like he was going to pass out or hurl....or a combination of the two. He is a big guy mind you....so I told him to take a zofran and put a chair behind him just in case. He was wonderful about 1 minute after taking the zofran. It was just such an exciting time, so many nerves.
• snacks- I get rather cranky without food...crackers, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter, veggies Thank god I packed powerbars and granola bars- these were crucial. It's the only thing I ate my whole stay.
• matt's swim trunks for the standing jacuzzi- didn't get to the jacuzzi. walking was just not possible for me with the pain.
• matt's change of clothes/ pajamas
• matt's toiletries
• after delivery lounge wear... fresh, clean yoga pants, tank top, sweat shirt- oh man, I hated the hospital nursing gown. It was huge and cumbersome. I just wanted to be naked with my frustrated non-latching little baby. So I took a shower and changed into my own clothes in the middle of the night after we got to the post partum room.
• flip flops
• travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face soap, face and body lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant
• makeup (the little makeup I do wear, I don't want to do without)
• hair dryer and curling rod (if I didn't have a short-styled hair cut, I could do without this stuff...but alas, I do. No ponytails for me)- didn't use the curling iron... and they had a hair dryer. It was nice to look "normal" again after being so bloody and goopy.
• spud journal to write about our experiences that I don't want to forget-still haven't gotten around to writing in this. Too stressful with all of the crying and not eating....survival mode I tell ya.
• one newborn pajama and one 0-3 pajama to go home in... extra snugly with fold over mittens and footies-the newborn PJs were even a bit big. She was alot tinier than we thought she would be.
• one blanket to swaddle/cover her on our way home
• infant nail clippers (this is silly, but the hospital can't cut your baby's nails, and I think it would drive me crazy...some of them are so very long! I don't want her to scratch herself)- we did use these! Her nails were very long!!
• car seat safely installed in car
• box of candy for the nurses...maybe I like this sentiment because I will be a nurse soon? But screw it I like it, and I'm doing it. - I thought for sure I'd deliver after being induced like a week after I ended up giving birth. So I thought I had time to buy the candy and put it off. Oh well.
• I did have my own motrin with me, which was great. I got tired of asking for pain meds, and I didn't want narcotics. I was in quite a bit of pain after delivery so I wanted to stay ontop of it myself.

Stuff I don't think I need:

• pads, underwear, my own hospital gown... this birthing process and recovery is bloody and gooey. I'd rather use their disposable gear or they-wash-it clothing- very true. I loved their pads.... LOTS of bleeding. Their underwear however were awful...I think because I was too large for them (umm... 56 pound weight gain anyone?! yeah.) I wore my own maternity undies.
• diaper bag, lots of baby clothes, pacifiers, diapers...they supply all of this- I wish we had brought a pacifier. It would have made things easier (read this post about it)
• breast feeding pillow- I think I can manage without the boppy pillow. They have ample pillows to use and prop in any way imaginable.- just fine without it. They have everything, even a breast-friend pillow.
• books, movies, magazines.... we have each other to be entertained, I think. - yup, didn't need it. Didn't even turn the TV on once.

a spud pre-birth story.

[oh geez I was huge... huge, 39 weeks pregnant.... and had no idea what we were in for]

So here is part one of Cora Elm's birth story...I wrote this part week by week so that I wouldn't forget. And now I need to work on part two- her actual birth. It's funny, I am forgetting already what labor felt like. I loved reading birth stories when I was pregnant and pre-pregnancy. So enjoy if you care for this type of thing...

[38 weeks]
This started off as the longest week ever. Seriously. Time just seemed to drag on. I was 38 weeks pregnant... still working fulltime, and going to school and I just had enough. I was starting to get uncomfortable. The only plus side to this long week is that I got a job offer... which I accepted! Wahoo!! I really will be a nurse!! So with that huge relief off my mind, I felt like I could now deliver a baby. Which....I didn't. I really thought I would deliver on the earlier side.

[39 weeks]
I went into my 39 week appointment. My midwife offered to check my progress, which I declined but she thought I was going into labor so she wanted to check just to be sure. My contractions started to change the night before. Instead of being a squeezing pressure... it was now uncomfortable. Not downright painful... but a little tricky to breathe. I also couldn't sleep- maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was the contractions. But I thought this was it!! It wasn't it. I was 1cm dilated.... thinned...and 0 station....for those of you who care :) So, it was good...she is definitely sitting low, which is why I am a chronic waddler... but a little disappointing, which is why I declined initially. There is no benefit to these checks early on- I will either clearly be going into labor and pop out a baby or I won't.

My blood pressures were high and my lack of sleep with increased discomfort...I was placed on maternity leave a week early. It was a little weird, I love work.... but I really wasn't feeling the 12 hour busy shifts. I needed a break.

I tried to fill my hours of waiting this week at home....I made a new shopping list template for winco, finished sewing a diaper changing pad, dyed some onesies and swaddle blanket, cleaned the house again, did spud's laundry, packed my hospital bag, sat in the sun, made a closet ladder... I know, my midwife told me to get rest, put my feet up... that's great if I want to last 2 more weeks, but I wanted that babe out now-ish.

Throughout the week I had intermittent hours of painful contractions...just hoping that they would ramp up and be unbearable. But no, they would subside to bearable contractions. I guess I had been having braxton hicks- but I didn't find that changing what I was doing would make them less intense. They were just milder, and sporadic. I considered this to be my pre-early labor. A practice round.

A coworker of mine, who was 3 weeks ahead of me in baby due dates said at her week 39.... I feel like I'm going to be eternally pregnant. Yup. Check. I feel the same way. Sometimes I would catch myself thinking... what if I never go into labor?! Like seriously think this. Yikes. Then I realized I indeed do have an induction date. This spud will come out by week 41.  (FYI, my coworker is not still pregnant...she has a beautiful healthy baby girl)


So... on Tuesday I was having serious menstrual-esq cramps. I realized it had been 10 months free of period pains, and how nice it has been. I thought nothing of the back pain and cramping and went to bed, motrin and wine free....which normally would have been my cramp-go-to pre-pregnancy. I woke up at midnight-wednesday morning with intense cramps. I tried to take a dump....eat... move around in bed. Nothing worked, I quietly climbed back into bed next to matt ...spud did a few cartwheel feeling like things in my belly....and GUSH. Yup. My water broke at 1 am. I almost started laughing out loud as I ran to the bathroom in this very wet state I was in. I ran back into the bedroom and told matt my water broke. It felt like christmas morning....no joke. He smiled, laughed...and got up running around like a chicken with his head cut off super excited...ready to do this. Finally...I'm in labor at 39 weeks and 5 days!! Let's do this.

hospital bag -packed!

[an over-sized tote bag I whipped up...and the most adorable PJs with fold-over mittens that I seam-ripped off the "brother loves me" or something patch from carters...and don't be fooled by the colors or toy trucks....we are still having a girl]

I thought this was a little silly... why would you pre-pack a hospital bag? Laboring isn't really as quick as the movies show it...oh shit...my water broke and race to the hospital... I think most people have hours of laboring at home. But, then the closer I got I realized, wow...I should really pack a hospital bag. What if I didn't have my chapstick? Yoga pants after delivery?...would I have to resort to my butt hanging out the back of my gown? Yes, I needed to pack a bag, stat.

So after referring to a bunch of fellow bloggers lists out there... I compiled a list of what "necessities" I needed to have. There are a ton of over-packers in this world, I am not one of them...nor am I a minimalist. I like to go tent camping... with our truck....and wine...and nice cheeses and meats...and dog beds... and an air mattress. That's my style of camping, so I find this situation rather similar. Matt calls me moderately moderate about everything in life... usually with some type of frowny face. He is more on the extreme/excessive side of things...he likes to live large, which is something I love about him. Can you tell I am processing how our life of two-dom will be rapidly changing to a family of three soon?! Anyways, I digress.

I like lists... they make me happy... so here is mine...

Hospital Bag:

• camera- a point and shoot for matt to use...that does black and white for my unflattering labor pictures.
• music- our iphones with playlists and pandora and little speaker
• camera and iphone battery charger
• chap stick.... maybe two of them.
• my own disolveable zofran... can I take this while laboring? My least favorite thing in the world is vomiting. I will ask this of our midwife next appointment
• snacks- I get rather cranky without food...crackers, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter, veggies
• matt's swim trunks for the standing jacuzzi
• matt's change of clothes/ pajamas
• matt's toiletries
• after delivery lounge wear... fresh, clean yoga pants, tank top, sweat shirt
• flip flops
• travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face soap, face and body lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant
• makeup (the little makeup I do wear, I don't want to do without)
• hair dryer and curling rod (if I didn't have a short-styled hair cut, I could do without this stuff...but alas, I do. No ponytails for me)
• spud journal to write about our experiences that I don't want to forget
• one newborn pajama and one 0-3 pajama to go home in... extra snugly with fold over mittens and footies
• one blanket to swaddle/cover her on our way home
• infant nail clippers (this is silly, but the hospital can't cut your baby's nails, and I think it would drive me crazy...some of them are so very long! I don't want her to scratch herself)
• car seat safely installed in car
• box of candy for the nurses...maybe I like this sentiment because I will be a nurse soon? But screw it I like it, and I'm doing it.

Stuff I don't think I need:

• pads, underwear, my own hospital gown... this birthing process and recovery is bloody and gooey. I'd rather use their disposable gear or they-wash-it clothing
• diaper bag, lots of baby clothes, pacifiers, diapers...they supply all of this
• breast feeding pillow- I think I can manage without the boppy pillow. They have ample pillows to use and prop in any way imaginable.
• books, movies, magazines.... we have each other to be entertained, I think.

...Any suggestions/thoughts from moms out there?!

Of course I will re-visit this list after delivery for what we really needed... and how I shouldn't have been so silly.

lamaze!

Matt and I went to our first birthing class a few weeks ago... lamaze! Now, ideally I wanted to take a hypnobirthing class but it just didn't work in my schedule. We decided not to cry about it and instead take a lamaze class and supplement it with our hypnobirthing book.

Let me tell you...we learned a lot and maybe more importantly it was fun and encouraging! It was one night and one full day long. It also included a maternity center tour. The instructor was great and super positive. It's just what we needed. Lamaze as it turns out isn't really about breathing anymore. Crazy right?! It's more about positioning, massage (fantastic), and some breathing/relaxation. We learned about the other interventions that may go down....which is great for people to know what could happen. We don't all get to choose our birthing plans 100%, so that was a nice realistic side of a natural birthing class.

What we took away from the class:

- Matt needs to support me with ample amounts of massage....we learned techniques, just grand I tell you.
- I tried some new positions for comfort and helping spud progress in the birthing canal. So helpful! A bit of squatting, birthing ball use, and positioning using matt as support.
- We both understood a little more of what the interventions can be- episiotomy, amniotomy, pitocin, c-section, epidural....not presented in a scary way just potentially necessary, so it was great to get educated on it.
- We did an exercise where we had about 30 flashcards about a birthing plan. One side said something like "amniotomy" and the other said "let water break naturally"...or "midwife/ OB" or "vaginal/c-section." We had to place all the cards face up with what our ideal birthing plan was. Then we had to flip over 7 of them, because realistically everything won't go as planned. Matt and I then decided to pick up all the ones we just didn't really care about when it came right down to it. We were left with 3 face up: "Hospital birth, baby girl, healthy." Birthing plan complete.
- After the class Matt said...Ok, well I'm ready to have a baby! Sweet, me too. Now we just wait for spud to be ready.

(side note...why is blogger f-ing up my paragraph spacing?! I'm really trying hard to not be OCD about this, but come on blogger...anyone else having issues?)

another prego movie...

We are constantly looking for good movies to watch, and we are constantly being let down. So these days we turn to netflix's documentaries, the watch instantly variety. Last night we watched Pregnant in America. I loved the Business of Being Born, so I thought this one would fall short....but it didn't! It showed the downsides of having a baby in the hospital and at home, the always better national healthcare system in other smarter countries, our alarming c-section and epidural rates, the benefits to nurse midwives, but what I loved to see most of all is that the women were supported to have natural childbirth, free from drugs, free from fear, and empowered. I will not know how I handle birthing a child.... but what I want most is Matt to support me in my choices. To understand why I want to do it myself, without medications. The movie also showed the risks to mother and babe of epidurals and c-sections, which I appreciated because I couldn't remember from my classes what specifically they were.

I know that the movie was biased and the main guy was a little bit of a tool but we liked it. It spurred some great conversation afterwards also. After each one of the prego-movies we watch Matt says... Ok... lets have a baby at home! We can do it!! No!! I really and truly don't want to (plus...you read about stories like John and Sherry's over on Young House Love and couldn't be happier for hospitals...if you read it have some tissues on stand-by). So even though all of my ideals line up with home birth; I feel comfortable in the hospital setting, I want it, I need it for my sanity. I just need him to help re-enforce my choices. Like for example....no suction, no forceps, no episiotomy...I'd rather rip that little ray of sunshine out myself thank you very much.

Also, something the movie brought up is how some women feel out of control with an epidural, and for the first time I realized I think I would actually and literally freak out with one. I hate feeling out of physical control of my body. If I couldn't feel my legs, I think I would not be a happy camper, I'd want a reversal agent STAT. Then there goes $2,000. Have you ever done that game as a kid...where one kid tells a story while you close your eyes...your legs are being held up high...then they lower your legs slowly and it feels like you're going below the ground. That your legs just aren't yours any longer?!Yeah. Not my favorite game.

it's february.

You know what this means?! Spud time! How did these months fly by so quickly? Unreal. So of course I have utilized those ovulation calendars. We aren't super stressed out- if it happens, it happens...if not...we had fun. I know stress can effect many things, including spud arrivals....so we will be stress-free. I looked up WebMD's ovulation calendar, and according to Dr. Web, I could give birth December 4th-ish 2011! And if no luck this month, then maybe the next month. Unbelievable. I actually feel like we are ready. I have started my OB/mother/baby clinical and I feel good about what we are attempting to embark on. I know whats coming, and I can do it. And I found out my hospital offers tons of baby classes- one of which is hypnobirthing! Fantastic.They won't look at me like a granola-tree-huggin' gal (that I really am not). Awesome!

To Do's that are DONE:

• go to the dentist, cavity free! They did over 20 xrays! I was so happy to have this done with.
• go to the dermatologist
• limit coffee to 1 cup or less a day (this is hard, but doable...warmth with spring will make this easier to just drink cold healthy things like milk and water)
• debt free... we owe nothing (besides school loans) and we are sitting pretty to be able to be saving. yay!
• prenatal vitamins still going strong.
• eating healthier....fruits and veggies, less eating out.

Still To Do's:

• schedule a pre-conception apt. This I am having a hard time with. Do I really need this appointment?! I think we read enough to know whats healthy and whats not. We have very few risks. I think I want to forego this apt. I kind of want to save up our money/insurance costs for the real-deal prenatal appointments. Bad idea?! Maybe.
• figure out how to incorporate exercise into my already super busy schedule.

birthing plan...in progress...

With all of these baby thoughts and next semester starting my maternity/child portion of nursing school I am reminded about this baby movie- The Business of Being Born- I saw a few years back with Matt. I just watched it again...and it is truly great! It's a documentary on the industry of child births...and how giving birth doesn't need to be treated like an emergency. Most of the time pregnancies can progress naturally, without intervention, and on your own biological time schedule. And with a walk away message that if you want to have a natural childbirth, have it at home with a midwife!

When I was in college for the first go-around, I received my degree in child development. I remember taking a specific course on pregnancy/child birth/infancy. This course talked about all of the incredible benefits to having natural childbirth and how it benefited not only your baby in numerous ways but it fostered this unbelievable bond between mother and baby. I need to research more about this to refresh my memory, but it stuck with me that this is the way I want to go- given the option. So I am all for the natural child birth. I also thought I would definitely want to have an at-home, water-birth for my baby. What a peaceful way to bring a child into this world right?!

Leo Hart from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo....a perfect example of a truly beautiful, mind-blowing at-home birth...

 

Well after much time in hospitals working, seeing how quickly normal-healthy situations can get scary fast, and actually now being in the position to have a child...instead of a wide-eyed-optimistic 22 year old... I want a hospital birth. No water. No mess in my house. No stress. If I were at home I would be so stressed out in my mind that something would go wrong, it would absolutely kill any enjoyment of having an at home birth for me. Not to mention the dogs roaming around... yuk. Being naked in a tub?! Not for me. No thanks. It just makes me smile that I had such strong ideas for what I wanted back then... and how easily they all changed, which I am sure they will yet again. But seeing this movie gives me power that I can have the birth I want, granted the spud is healthy, and I want to make sure I choose the right doctor now that will listen.

My birthing plan [in progress]

-stay at home with contractions until they progress in intensity

-ipod music... this is something that I NEED. This calms me.

-natural childbirth

-no epidural

-no c-section

-no induction

-deliver at the hospital I work at

-calm voices. I do not want people yelling at me to push. I don't think adults should yell, it agrivates me. I will understand biologically what is going on in my body, I understand hospitals, the vitals, monitoring, pain, interventions... I am comfortable with it. But I need soft, confident, peaceful voices. I love the traumas we get where we all all organized, peaceful, work as a team, and use quiet calming voices. I need that.

-matt by my side, only. Nurses, doctors, residents, student nurses...whatever, thats all great. But I'd like family to come into town a few days after giving birth, this is something I feel rotten about wanting. But I think I want some time to adjust to being a mom, matt being a dad, and our new family. Then have the rush of family/friends excitement. Being that our families are from different states I think this might be doable.

...trailer for Business of Being Born, FYI- you can watch the actual movie instantly on netflix...