Story 2: my parents

Randy's at home teaching right now and Benjamin's asleep so I thought I'd take this opportunity now to write about how my parents found out I was in labor. It's a great story and I'll make it quick! My birth story is in the previous post.

That morning as I was laboring at home, I got onto facebook (this was before I realized these contractions were not like the previous ones). My mom was on and we talked very briefly. My parents were getting ready to go to the airport to come here to DC that very same day. We talked about how excited we were about them coming here. At this moment, I was going to be induced on the due date (the 14th) and that is what they were expecting- a few days to hang out before baby came and then the rest of the week to spend with baby. Well, in the conversation, I never told my mom about my contractions so she did not suspect a thing. At 11:15am, as Randy and I arrived at the hospital, my mom had called- they were boarding the plane. I was about to tell them that I was at the hospital until my mom mentioned that her and my dad had separate seats. My mom alread does not like to fly and the fact she was sitting apart from my dad, I thought, would make her even more nervous. She doesn't need my news to freak her out some more! So once again, I didn't say anything. Later that afternoon, I got a few calls from my friend, Natalie, asking for updates on the labor. I mentioned my parents and being the awesome friend she is, she offered to pick up my parents at the airport, keeping my labor a surprise. They were due to land at around 4:30pm! When my parents landed, my mom called and Randy told her that "we were just arriving at the hospital, waiting to check me in because I wasn't sure if I was having real contractions." We planned this so we could surprise them when they arrived. Natalie picked them up and they ended up getting lost, which makes for an hilarious story in itself. When Natalie dropped them off at the hospital, she called us letting us know they were here. At this point, I had only a few more pushes left to go before Benjamin came out. Randy was getting anxious. I was not paying attention- who can anyways when you're pushing with all your might- that's the only thing you focus on! Randy said out loud to everyone, "I'm going to get them really quick." Luckily, the nurses responded, "You're not going anywhere" and called the reception desk to escort my parents to my room. I still laugh when I think about what Randy said. A few minutes later, we hear a knock on the door- my parents walk in, and sees me in all my glory (it's really true when they say that all modesty goes out the window in labor). I wish we had videotaped this moment. My mom was so shocked- wide mouth, wide eyes, hands to her head, and not knowing what to say or think. My dad, of course, played it cool but he was shocked as well. I loved it! They were so excited! We took pictures really quick and my mom was assigned as the videocamera person. 5-6 pushes later and Benjamin was out. Close call BUT they made it!