Our Baby's Here

What a surreal day!!! I woke up this morning having decently strong contractions every 10 minutes. Ryan went to work and I told him I'd call if they got closer together. They were intense enough that I had to focus on breathing through them, and I realized my plan to focus on my finger was not going to work as well as I'd hoped. I called my sister and she gave me some good ideas and talked me through some of the contractions.

Then my friend Corinna came by to visit with her little boys. It was a nice distraction having her there -- I'm not sure I would've opened the door to anyone else because I was definitely in my pjs.

By 10:00 they were intense enough that I really wanted Ryan's help getting through them. He came home from work. He made me lunch and rubbed my back and told me I could do it. I took 2 showers which helped a bit, but there was a LOT of pressure in my bum which was hard to cope with. Jenny had that when she was close to transition, so suggested we go to the hospital.

We checked in around 12:30. I was dialated to a 5 and 100% effaced. They gave me a heplock. They monitored me and the baby and then allowed me to get in a warm tub. They monitored me once there too. Ryan knelt by the tub and let me squeeze his hand. He was very good about telling me I could get through it. Very important when the contractions are so intense you're not too sure.

After an hour in the tub, they checked me again...I was dialated to a 6. The nurse, Jeanine, was really great and pretty much left Ryan and I alone to deal with things. Then things started getting QUITE intense. I definitely have more understanding for why girls do get epidurals, but it was really a great feeling to get through it without one.

They started coming one after the other after the other. I couldn't find a comfy position, so I just tried to get through each one and rest a bit. Then they were so intense I started shaking a bit. The nurse checked me at about 3:30 or so and said I was dialated to a 9. Good deal too because it had been intense. That last 40 minutes or so were...wow...but then I kept feeling the urge to push, so I asked her to check me again. I was a 10 and she said my water must've broken already in the last minutes, but Ryan and I never noticed it.

The nurse told me to follow what my body told me to, but sometimes it was hard to obey because of the pressure in my bum. But we started pushing and the Dr. came in after she was at station 3. Ryan was there the whole time encouraging me and telling me he loved me. What a wonderful man. Then pushing, pushing, pushing with rests in between. I'm grateful that's how your body works.

Then her head started to show. Honestly, I couldn't keep my eyes open while pushing, so I didn't see. They just kept telling me to push, and I did, and then when her shoulders came out there was this GREAT release. It surprised me how quick it went and then there was just a euphoria! They put her up on my tummy and dried her off a bit there. It was amazing to see her. She was quite pink and DARLING!! It made all the pain worth it right then.

She breast fed both sides, but had a time keeping her tongue in so she didn't push the breast away. She is just cute as a button and we're SO happy to have her here. What an amazing day!! Ryan and I are sitting together in the hospital in the recovery area and hope to be home as soon as possible. It all depends on what the pediatrician says and what's best for her.

We probably are going to hold off on having visitors for the first little bit just to make sure that she doesn't catch any of the sicknesses going around, but we'll be sure to post photos.