three years ago...

Tomorrow is Sakura's 3rd birthday and it was about this time three years ago that my labor started. My mother had come to Japan to help me out and we had all planned to go out with my in-laws for ramen. A couple of hours before we were set to meet, I started having some contractions but nothing very regular so I felt that it was OK to go to dinner with everybody (and I was hungry). My in-laws thought I was totally crazy.

During dinner the contractions kept coming and after we got home, we started keeping track of them. Around 10pm we decided to go to the hospital even though we weren't really sure if they'd keep me. When I was in labor with Misaki I waited so long to go to the hospital that she was born 25 minutes after we arrived. We didn't want a repeat of that evening.

Although I was only 3cm dilated, they decided to keep me since it was my third baby. The contractions kept on but they were irregular in duration and intensity, which was frustrating for me. Around 3am, I was taken to the delivery room and at 3:36am, Sakura Nicole was born. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and around her leg once but the cord was so long that it didn't really affect her.

So, for tomorrow, Happy Birthday Sakura!