The process of carrying and delivering my first child was the best time of my entire life. I found out I was pregnant in August 2003. The baby was due on April 19, 2004. I was fortunate, no morning sickness or dizziness.

I had a perfectly normal pregnancy until my 28th week, when I was diagnosed with having gestational diabetes after failing the one-hour sugar test AND the three-hour test. I was educated on the proper diet and monitored my sugar levels. I did well and only gained about 24 pounds until my last month.

My last month was awful. I was so ready to have the baby. I was extremely swollen, and my body ached. I could not sleep or anything. We knew the baby was big and had been monitoring him closely. My doctor and I decided that if he were 9 pounds or more at my last ultrasound we would have a Cesarean section. Well, my last ultrasound revealed my little boy was expected to be 10 pounds!

We scheduled the C-section for April 14, 2004. I had a pre-operative interview the day before to go over details. We were so nervous, anxious, scared, excited, every emotion imaginable! I tried hard to keep it together the morning of the 14th. It's so weird to know that you are walking in to have your baby on a certain date and time. It's like you know exactly what to expect, but you have no idea what it's REALLY going to be like. What was it going to feel like to meet my son and see his perfect face for the first time?

The surgery went well. The baby was delivered at 1:01 p.m. They took me into the pre-op area first and hooked an IV to my hand and made me drink a liquid to keep me from feeling sick in the OR. Then I was taken to the OR, where the anesthesiologist gave me a spinal.

That was a little weird because I was so nervous and had to stay very still. It did not hurt, though. I had never been numb like that, though. Almost instantly I began to feel my feet and legs tingle and go numb. Soon I was numb and they brought in my boyfriend.

They put up a curtain and went to work. They shaved a portion of hair and cleaned and prepped my tummy for surgery. I didn't even know when they started. I could feel some tugging and pressure. I could feel my body moving from them working the baby out. The doctor then told me I was going to feel a lot of pressure on my chest, like an elephant was sitting on me, and with that I heard my son's first cry.

They told my boyfriend to stand up and watch our son being born. I started to cry. They did his Apgar test, wiped him down and placed him on my chest. He was the best thing in the world. Still is.

I got to hold him for about 20 minutes, and they took me to recovery where I stayed for about an hour while the baby was in the nursery getting bathed, weighed and checked out, etc. Then I was taken to my room, and the baby was brought to me.

I was in the hospital for three nights and four days. I was given pain medication every four hours but didn't always need it. By the first night I was already out of bed and using the bathroom, after they took out the catheter, of course.

By the time I got home I was fine other than not being able to lift. It was a little hard to get out of bed, and I couldn't comfortably lie on my side. After the first week I was back to normal. The scar is nothing! I walked the halls while in the hospital, and my advice is to do so if you have a C-section. It felt great, and the nurses let me push the baby around in his bassinet while I walked.

The birth of my son and the following days in the hospital were the best four days of my entire life. I wish I could relive those moments over again. All the emotion and excitement. It was something you can only feel. There is no way of describing how wonderful the experience was