What was I thinking?

UPDATE:  Today is Amy’s 20th birthday! I wrote this blog post four years ago when she turned 16. As I awoke early this morning just as I did 20 years ago I thought, as I always do on this day, of all the amazing details of her birth and decided to repost this article. Enjoy!

My second daughter – Amy Girl – is turning sweet sixteen today.  I remember the day of her birth vividly.  In fact, of all my seven deliveries (2 c-sections & 5 vbacs)….Amy’s was one of the easiest.

But as I remember the events surrounding her birth I have to laugh at myself. I have certainly mellowed out a bit in my “old age” because when I look back to my decisions as a 30 year old “driven”, type A , intense young woman, I often find myself saying….What was I thinking?

After a 24+ hour pitocin induced, mind numbing, horrific labor that ended in a c-section, three years prior with my #1 child, Michelle….I had no idea what to expect with #2.  Well it was “textbook”.  I woke up at 6am with contractions about 20 minutes apart.  Since I wanted to be off work with this baby as long as possible, I did not want to stay home from my half day teaching position in case this was a false alarm….so I took a shower and went to work.

What was I thinking?  Going to work in labor….pleeeeease!  

The contractions got closer & closer with each class period – going from twenty, to fifteen, to ten and then to five minutes apart.  I had my students time them on the white board and just went about my day lecturing on leadership, helping students with yearbook & journalism deadlines and planning student activities with the student council.  By noon with just a few minutes left in my teaching day, word had gotten down to my principal that I was having contractions. He called down to my room and ordered me to the hospital.

What was I thinking? Having contractions five minutes apart…stopping to time them and having students record them. Oh my!  What if my water would have broken in class?  Now that would have been a memory not too soon forgotten and filed under the most embarrassing moments category.

On the way to the hospital my water did break and the contractions took on a new intensity.  By 1pm we were in the delivery room and dear sweet baby Amy was born after just a couple of pushes at 3:24pm…a few minutes after school ended for the day.  Before I knew it, I was surrounded by students coming in to welcome the newest Lambdin baby into the world.

What was I thinking having nine teenagers in my room just hours after giving birth?  Oh wait – I’m still doing that – it’s just that most of those teens are my own. 🙂

48 hours later I was at home cooking and serving a four course dinner to my husbands entire Varsity Volleyball team the night before their championship game of the season.

What was I thinking?  This still makes me wonder if I had lost my sanity?  I mean really!  I should have been kicking back on the couch being served dinner by someone else…but this special night was on the calendar and the doctor had recently informed me that I would not be delivering for two more weeks (shows you what doctors know)….so when Amy arrived a couple days prior to the volleyball dinner,  I just decided to carry on with our plans. (You see girls – if it is on the calendar – it does happen!)

During the next few weeks, I attended several volleyball games, chaperoned student activities, met with the yearbook staff and even was the speaker at a leadership retreat…all with baby in tow.

What was I thinking?

I guess I was thinking that life just goes on.  You just do what you have to do!  And I suppose that even though the years, my life experiences and my many children have mellowed me in many ways, I still strive to live my life with a paradigm of  –“Why not?”  and “Yes…I can!” – when faced with doing things that might seem crazy, out of the ordinary or overwhelming.  And I always want to hear myself saying – “Sure, I’d love to!”  – when asked to help someone in need despite my own personal problems, “to do list” or excuses that may be miles long.

We could probably all use a bit more  –

• Why not?
• Yes…I can!

and

• Sure I’d love to!

in our lives.  So, in honor of Amy Girls birthday, I will stay up far too late preparing for her special day, get up at crack of dawn to take her to bagels with the sisters in our PJ’s, go to the high school and bring cupcakes & ballooons to her (and embarrass her fully by singing – “You’re 16” to her during a class) and then cook her a “made to order” dinner…… despite having several pending deadlines for my work, participating in an important dedication service for my friends baby and trying to pack and plan for an out of town trip to NYC later this week! Why not? Yes…I can! Sure, I’d love to!

And today….Happy 20th Birthday Amy-girl! May you always live your life with this same paradigm:

Why not?

Yes…I can!

Sure, I’d love to!