Paxton Hayden Garner

Our birth story of Paxton isn’t full of drama and twists and turns. It’s actually a pretty simple story. On May 14, 2020 I woke up with a head full of freshly washed, blown-out hair. My objective, “braid this mess up ASAP!” So I started the day separating braiding hair and I got to work.

As a black woman I have to acknowledge the obvious nature & complexity of our hair. There is no, one size fits all approach to natural hair, and it certainly does not provide “get up and go” manageability, especially when it’s in a medium length natural state. Simply put….it takes TIME which is something I knew I would have very little of when my son was born. So the braiding commenced!

I finished braiding fairly quickly but I couldn’t help but realize how exhausted I was. I mean, I was completely worn out. I had stood for a portion of the braiding but most of it was done sitting down in the bathroom.

My final thoughts that day were, “I can’t imagine being pregnant another day.”

Funny how you say things like that and God makes moves SUDDENLY to prove just how much of a sense of humor He has.

I went to sleep around 10:00 that night and slept like a rock.

The usual late night/early morning bathroom trips occurred as normal when you’re pregnant. Then, at 6:00 am I popped up and ran to the restroom. This trip felt different though. My body felt very different. I could literally feel my body shifting into overdrive.

Everyone says, “You’ll know when it’s time to give birth.” I doubted it each time they said it, but they were totally right!

to be continued…