The Story...

Here is the story of the labor, if you're interested.

My alarm went off at 6:30 and I was preparing to get up to go to work. I rolled over to turn off my alarm clock and felt a gush of fluid...my water broke. I told Casey he better go get me a towel, and he fell out of bed rushing to go get me one. I called the doctor and she told me to take a shower and take my time getting ready, but then to come to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 9 and I was having only very slight and far between contractions. They put me on the monitor and told me what I already knew about the contractions and that I should try walking around for awhile. We walked around for about an hour or so and they started to get much stronger and closer. Around 11:30 they officially admitted me and put me back on the monitors where it showed the contractions were much stronger. She checked me and I was at about 5 centimeters. The contractions were getting to be quite uncomfortable and the nurse asked if I wanted to try a warm bath since they say it can cut the pain almost in half. I gladly agreed and went to the tub for about an hour.

At that point they were getting VERY painful and I told Casey I wanted an epidural and he better go tell the nurse. For some reason I thought they were going to tell me when I should get an epidural, or at least tell me it was available for me whenever I wanted it. The nurse checked me again and I was at 8 centimeters. She went to get the anesthesiologist and started the IV. It was very hard to stay still as she did the epidural as the contractions were very strong at this point. I didn't feel the epidural or even care about all the needles because I just wanted the pain to go away.

It started to kick in about 15 minutes later, except for on window on my left side where it was having no effect. They said they baby's head was so far down that she was pushing on a nerve and blocking the path for the medicine. They rolled me on to my left side and after about another 20 minutes, the medicine started to kick in on the spot where it wasn't working. It didn't work all the way, but it was enough to make the contractions comfortable. Once it was all working, the anaesthesiologist asked the nurse how long it would probably be and the nurse said she thought the baby could be born within the hour. Our doctor was in the OR that morning as they were short staffed. He also had another patient in labor. As such, they left me more or less waiting as I wasn't in pain at that point.

At around 4 the doctor came in and said we were ready to push. It took about half an hour of pushing and our little girl came into the world crying and squirming. It was such a miracle to finally meet the little person who had been kicking and moving inside of me. We both got a little teary to welcome her into the world and to know she was ours.

The birth was very easy and the only thing I would have done differently would have been to get the epidural earlier. I did tear which has been uncomfortable. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I'm so happy to have little Claire with us. She has been a good baby so far and we are trying to adjust to having this little person with us.

I was going to put some more pictures up, but it doesn't seem to be working, so I'll have to try later.