My Personal Birthing Experience

On Christmas Eve of 2009, I was awaken by sharp pains at 6:30 in the morning. I took 2 Tylenol and the pain went away so I decided to go back to sleep because I was planning to wake up around 8 am to help fix a Christmas Eve morning breakfast for my friend and her family. We were vacationing in Gatlinsburg, Tennessee for the holidays. I was exactly 8 months pregnant and wanted to take a vacation before my due date on January 24, 2010 so one of my friends invited me along for her family vacation to one of the nicest log cabins in Gatlinsburg. I thought I was getting away for a quick retreat; however, other events took place which I was not prepared for. Around 8 am, the sharp pains in my back were stronger so I called my friend to my room and she went in retrieved her family from the living room. Her mother than replied, "You are in labor." I was thinking to myself, I have another month to go...I am not supposed to be in labor especially not on my vacation. I didn't have any baby clothes, bottles, car seat, or anything for the baby. The pain was getting worse and then my water broke. So my friend and her family rushed me to Fort Sevier Medical Center at 9:30 am. Everything was happening so fast. I asked for medicine because the labor pains were so strong but I had already dilated 7 cm when I arrived to the hospital. So I had to go through natural labor. Poor me! At 11:14 am, Gabriel Alexander Frost was born. He weighed exactly 5lbs and zero ounces. He was so tiny and so cute. Immediately after he was born, Gabriel was ready to feed. He gained a couple ounces before we left the hospital the day after Christmas. So I basically spent my Christmas holiday in another city and hospital. The staff was so very helpful, encouraging, and resourceful. As I was going through the labor, I had two nurses to give me massages for my back, legs, and feet. That really helped to keep me calm since this was my first pregnancy and I felt so unprepared. They offered clothes, a car seat, and other necessary items since I was a out of town visitor. Gabriel just turned 3 years old on this past Christmas Eve, and everyone calls him the miracle baby or Christmas baby. I will have an amazing story of his birth to tell him when he gets older. I can't wait to tell him how he crashed Mommy's Christmas Vacation!!1