Delivering a Birthday Present

In the early hours of my 31st birthday, I awoke to severe back labor pains. Since we had been to the hospital the night before and were sent home due to not being far enough along to admit, we decided to wait a couple hours before going to the hospital. I spent several hours in bed begging God to make the pain stop. My poor husband was glued to my side, holding my hand and reassuring me that everything would be ok. My husband rushed me the 18 miles to the hospital after Dr. Muallem told us to get there right away. The contractions were coming every minute so I was out of it.
At maternity triage, I was checked and prepped for maternity. I was told that I was only 5 cm dilated and that everything was progressing quickly. I can remember saying to a nurse, "Oh great, I'm going to have to have a C-section". The nurse looked at me like I was nuts...I wasn't. I continued to have intense back labor pains and it was discovered that I had an infection so they could not give me an epidural. My husband was a trooper during the entire time; holding my hand, massaging my back, and just being there for me.
Around noontime, the nurse gave me something to slow down or stop the contractions. I was finally able to get some rest. Dr. Muallem was worried about my baby because my contractions were causing him to go into distress. They decided to prep me for a C-section. I was so out of it that I vaguely remember him talking to me before getting mine and my husbands signatures. Believe me, I was alert when they wheeled me into the OR. There the nurses and the anesthesiologist had a difficult time getting the spinal in and Dr. Muallem waited impatiently to begin. Even though I was scared spitless I still had a sense of humor. I told the nurses "there goes my bikini body" and they stared at me. They knew I was joking when I said, "that's alright, I don't have a bikini body anyway."
Once the spinal was finally in, I was strapped into the bed and Dr. Muallem was finally ready to begin.
At 2:00 PM on April 11, 2015, Wendell Lynn Nolt, Jr. was born. I can still remember waiting anxiously to hear his first cry. Before long we knew that something was wrong. The doctor came over and said that they were going to take him to the NICU because he had a partially collapsed lung due to a tiny hole in his lung. So after seeing our beautiful baby for several moments, we watched as they rushed him away.