The day my eldest son was born.

Thank you for coming to read this.

Yesterday was my eldest son's birthday.
I am so grateful that he has grown up so well.

The day my eldest son was born. Yesterday, 12 years ago.

I had returned to my parents' home a week earlier for the birth.
Just before noon, as I was about to have tea with my mother, my labor pains began.

At first, the pain was minor, but it quickly became intense.

The maternity clinic had told me to call them once the labor pains became stronger, so I called them right away.
The midwife who answered the phone said one thing.

"Since this is your first birth, you are calling too early. Try to endure it a little longer."

And then the call was disconnected.

However, I had started to break out in a cold sweat.
It was just incredibly painful.

The waves of labor were getting stronger and the intervals were shortening; I had reached my limit.
About two hours after that first call, I made a second call.

But the midwife on the other end told me again that it was "too early" and hung up.

"They told me it was too early again."

I reported this to my mother while enduring the pain.
My mother, who had been watching me with concern, said quietly,

"In our family, everyone has quick labors. Your sister also gave birth quickly the year before last. Maybe you should let the hospital know."

Is that so?
Does everyone in our family have quick labors?

Come to think of it, I was told that I was born just two hours after my mother's labor began.

In my agony, I desperately tried to remember.
However, labor does not wait.
The intervals were getting shorter and shorter, and it was becoming difficult to know when to call.

Instead of me, who was in too much pain, my mother finally called the maternity clinic.

The clinic said, "We want to speak to the patient," but my mother didn't hand the phone to me and instead told the midwife,

"In our family, everyone has quick labors. If you make us wait 10 hours, both my daughter and the baby will be in danger! Please let us come over right away!"

If my mother hadn't said this to me at that moment, I might have been made to wait again. However, thanks to my mother, I finally headed to the maternity clinic.
I also contacted my husband at this time.

I arrived at the maternity clinic and immediately underwent an internal examination.

"Your cervix is dilated 9 cm. We need to prepare for delivery immediately."

Both I and the midwife were surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"It's true that you (referring to me) said you were in pain over the phone. If we had made you wait after that, it might have been dangerous."

I was guided to a hospital room while hearing the midwives talking.

I changed clothes in the hospital room and was attached to something like a device to measure the intervals of my contractions.
At this time, my husband had not yet arrived.

While waiting for my husband to arrive, my mother rubbed my back.
The wait for my husband felt very long.

When he received the call, my husband thought, "Since it's the first birth, it probably won't happen that quickly," and intended to finish his work before heading over.
However, his colleagues and boss told him, "You never know what might happen, so you absolutely must go right away," and when he rushed to the clinic, he was astonished to hear that the delivery was already imminent.

The time from the start of contractions to delivery was misjudged even by the midwives, who are professionals at childbirth.
I regretted that I should have listened to my mother earlier, but there was no helping it once it had come to this.

Almost at the same time my husband arrived, I was guided to the delivery room.
It was finally time for the birth.

Since it was a birth with a partner present, my husband also came into the delivery room.
Drenched in sweat, he rubbed my back and encouraged me.

Up until this point, it had been a scramble, but the birth itself seemed to go smoothly.
(Though I was in so much pain I couldn't help it)

When I faced my newborn eldest son, I shed tears.
When I looked at my husband, he was crying loudly.
His hand holding the camera was shaking.
Thanks to that, the entire second half of the footage of the birth is shaky.

The eldest son I gave birth to after such a difficult experience is now in his sixth year of elementary school.

Although he sometimes talks back to my husband, he is growing up relatively well.
If it weren't for this child, we wouldn't have been able to become parents.

I am glad that my eldest son was born to us.

He is entering a difficult age, but I want to raise him with all my might.

Thank you for reading this far.

#66DayWritingChallenge