A tradition that we have is on Ian and Emily’s birthday I would tell them the story of their birth. It becomes part of the celebration. I had been having false labor for weeks. Emily was not due until August 10th but as usual, she could not wait. On Monday the 29th I went to the doctor and he told me that it could be any day or for that matter 2 more weeks. Just be patient he said. That evening, at 9:00 like usual, the false labor started. I laid down and by 11:00 realized that the contractions were not going away. This was it, we were going to have a baby!! I was excited, almost giddy. We laughed and ate popcycles. The contractions weren’t that bad, about 5 minutes apart. At 1:30 in the morning I had a strong contraction and my water broke. At this point all the calm went to the wind. The contractions began coming right on top of each other. Wells picked up my suitcase and Ian and headed to the car. He thought I was right behind him. The problem was that every time a contraction hit I had to stop and lay down. I could not stand or walk through them!! So what should have take 3 minutes or less to get to the car took 15 minutes!! When I finally arrived at the car (and by the way Wells did come back and help me to the car!) we took off. Ian was so quiet in the back seat. I remember looking at him once and his eyes were so big and he kept saying, “Don’t worry Mommy, you will be fine.” Wells sped like the wind hoping a police officer would stop him and of course none were to be found. The entire way to the hospital I felt the need to push but was coached not too. It was so hard not to push!!! When we arrived about 15 minutes later at Columbia Hospital they were waiting for us with a wheelchair. We opened the door and the attendant said, “OK lady, you can get out.” I was in so much pain I could not figure out how to do this, but with Wells’ help I got into the wheelchair. I could not sit, however, because I could feel the baby’s head!!! They ran me into the hospital. By the way, my Mom met us and took Ian!! The elevator ride was another painful experience but we soon arrived on the maternity floor. All the birthing rooms were full so they just put me in a regular room. Three nurses were in the room with me and told me to take off my shorts. All I could do was lay down, so they helped me take my shorts off. All I remember is they got one look at me and two of them took off running. The last nurse asked me if I needed to push and so I pushed and out came Emily!!! No doctor, just a nurse and Wells. I was shocked when she told me that it was a girl, because I was convinced we were having another boy!! I asked the nurse to show me and I saw a beautiful big girl. Emily was almost 10 pounds and had a head full of black curly hair. She was beautiful and we were so glad to have her with us. I miss Emily every day!! I will never forget the joyous day when my sweet little girl arrived. Happy 20th birthday Emily. I love you. Momma