It was almost March.
January and February had flown past me amidst a chaotic move from our old apartment to our new home.
I got a message from a first time mom, Ashlyn, asking me if I happen to have any availability for a last minute birth in March. She and her husband are both in the military and she was coming down to Florida from being stationed in North Carolina for the last few years and with her husband still deployed overseas, they worried what lasting memories they may have from the birth of their first child.
My heart instantly sank.
I overlooked my completely full calendar for March and said absolutely I have availability for you.
How could I not?
I couldn't imagine giving birth without my best friend, my husband, by my side, and I have such a soft spot in my heart for military and law enforcement.
I knew in that moment, I would do everything in my power to make this the greatest love and birth story of all time.
Ashlyn and I met and instantly realized we had dozens of things in common, which made this birth story feel like it was for an old friend, or a sister. It was one of the first births I've cried at because it just pulls so much on your heart, how mom and dad serve this country with all their heart, and now birth their first child while separated by thousands of miles of ocean and foreign lands.
I hold in my heart the greatest gratitude for Ashlyn's amazing OBGYN at Broward General hospital in Fort Lauderdale, who took her under her wing so last minute, just a few weeks before birth. And to the hospital as well for being so accommodating of these first time parents hopes and dreams of having the first birth of their newborn baby boy documentary so smoothly and happily.
May this birth story fill your hearts with hope and love the way it did mine.
