May 5th, 2009

On Cinco De Mayo I had the pleasure of meeting my baby girl. This last week has been one of the craziest but most amazing weeks of my life. So, to explain my crazy week I guess I'll start at the beginning. I want to write about EVERYTHING so this is going to be a long one...

I went to the hospital around midnight because I was having strong contractions that were about 3-5 minutes apart. I had been having contractions that close together for about a week, but they weren't strong enough to changing my cervix. I quickly learned from the hospital that labor is technically cervical change, not the whole huffing and puffing through contractions. I was sure, though, that these contractions were different because they were a lot stronger. Shaun, the nice guy that he is, helped me pack up and drove me to the hospital in the middle of the night. They hooked me up to the machines and tracked my contractions. Sure enough they came every three minutes like clockwork, but when they checked me I was only dilated to a 2. AHHHHHHH!!! I had been stuck at a two for almost a week. The nurse told me that she thought I was really in labor, just the early stages of it. She told me to go home and take an ambien (sleeping pill I was prescribed by my doctor) and if I couldn't sleep through the contractions then I would know I was in labor. Well, I sleep that night but only two or three minutes at a time. Every time I had a contraction I would wake up. In the morning my contractions got even stronger, but I was so frustrated from being sent home that I DID NOT want to go back to that place unless I had to. I waited until about 9am and was in so much pain I was in tears. I called Shaun at work and he got a little worried about me being home alone and called my doctor to see if we should go back to the hospital. My doctor called me right away and I told them about the contractions and that I felt a lot of pressure "down there". She told me to go the hospital immediately and not to worry if they send me home again.

I finally caved in and had Shaun leave work to take me to the hospital... again. So it was my second hospital visit in ten hours and I was so embarrassed to be back there because I was sure it was another false alarm. They hooked me up to the machines again and sure enough there were my contractions faithful as ever but much more painful. The nurse checked me and simply said. "Okay, you're dilated to about a 5. You're going to have a baby today." I almost cried with happiness when she said that. I couldn't believe they were actually going to keep me there.

After the happiness subsided it hit me that Holy Crap, I have to have a baby now. I asked the nurse if there was anything that I could take for the pain, and she asked me, "Oh sure, do you want an epidural?" What?! An epidural? she acted like she was asking me if I wanted some Tylenol. Am I really far enough along in my labor to have that? She assured me that now was a good time to have it, and to be honest I was so uncomfortable I decided an epidural might not be so bad.

It took about 45 minutes to get the epidural and let me tell you ladies... it was AMAZING. They numbed my back first so a couple of needle pokes was nothing compared to the contractions I was having. Once it kicked in I was more comfortable then I had been in WEEKS. I totally relaxed and kicked back while my body got ready to have a baby. I went from being dilated to a 5 to a 10 in about five hours which was pretty quick, and thanks to my epidural a walk in the park. Once I hit a 10 the nurse called the doctor to come and deliver and started having me push every time I had a contraction. Pretty soon the doctor and two nurses came quickly into the room and turned on two huge spot lights and aimed them right at my lady parts. Apparently my lady parts had to be illuminated.

I started pushing the baby out and unfortunately the epidural doesn't numb that pain. I'm lucky I had Shaun in there encouraging me to push and just being the nicest person in world. He made sure I never ran out of ice water, he dabbed my face and neck with a cool wash cloth, and he just kept telling me how amazing I was doing. He really was the best labor coach ever. Even the nurses were impressed. They said that they would like to hire him for all of the other deliveries.

I pushed for about 30 minutes, and at one point near the end I wasn't sure if I could do it anymore. I held back my tears but kept telling Shaun that I couldn't do it. He helped me get through my moment of weakness like only he could. Finally I pushed and her head came out. One more quick push and the rest of her came out like it was nothing. Some thing that still confuses me.

I just saw a flash of her before they took her to clean her up, but I hear her first cry and had the most amazing feeling ever. It seemed like an eternity, but finally they brought her over and I got to hold her for the first time. In that one instant I forgot all of the pain, all nine months of pregnancy discomfort... everything was gone. All I could do was marvel at the miracle in my arms. Everything changed in that instant. All of things I had stressed about before now, like work and school, meant absolutely nothing. The only things that mattered were there in the room with me, Shaun and Kayleigh, my family. Indescribable.

8lbs 4oz and 19 inches long. My little sweetheart has officially stolen my heart. I just want to spend every minute holding her. She has completely flipped my world upside down, and it's the best feeling in the world. I was so scared to become a mom. I didn't think that I could do it, but I am amazed at how easy it is. It is so easy to love her and want to take care of her. I never get tired of having her around and I have the best support system at home with Shaun and from both of our families. May 5th 2009 has definitely been the craziest day in my life so far. Honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world.