I have to start out by apologizing for the extreme lack of updates! It has taken me now three days to write this post! Needless to say, things have been a little crazy around here! So we had a baby since the last time I posted a blog! First of all, she is amazing. It's hard to believe that a person so little and helpless can bring so much joy to your heart. I am sure there will be MUCH more on that in future posts, but for now I thought I would share all the "gorey" details of how she got here. Okay, so I won't go gorey, but I will tell you all the story!
We had a "false alarm" early Tuesday morning and thought my water had broken. I still don't really know what else could cause a "gush of fluid" but I know now (they actually broke my water in labor) that indeed it was no water breakage. So Jon and I spent Tuesday morning (it was Monday night to me) in the hospital getting checked out, to find out that we were being sent home. So, the next night, when I was pretty sure I was having contractions (which really didn't feel at all like I expected them to) we started timing them to see if there was a pattern. We really didn't want to make another false trip to the hospital. So we timed what I thought might be contractions, and sure enough they were consistent.
So this went on for about 6 hours. You aren't supposed to go to the hospital until the contractions are about 5 minutes apart, but we couldn't wait any longer. We called around 7 minutes and they told us to come on in. By the time we got there and got checked in, I had dilated to 1 1/2 cm. Now for those of you moms out there, that sounds like nothing, but it was huge for me since the night before I still had not dilated at all (maybe a fingertip is what they said). So, I continued laboring through the night with Jon at my side. My doctor was on call that morning so she came in and was so excited to see me there. She was disappointed though, that after being in labor and at the hospital for 5-6 hours, I was still at 1 1/2 cm.
Long story short, I stayed at 1 1/2 cm for another 10 hours, despite the fact that my contractions continued to get more frequent. I had planned on having an epidural if I could, but that couldn't happen until I was at 4 cm. My doctor came in when my contractions were about 1 1/2-2 minutes apart and said that she would do the epidural. She said it wasn't protocol, but that she would do it, give me another hour to make some progress, and if not then she was going to have to do a C-section. She also broke my water at that point. So, in the 30 minutes between when she talked to me and when the epidural was completed, I went from 1 1/2 to 8! The doctor couldn't believe it. Another 20 minutes and I was fully dilated and ready to push.
Hannah, still not keen on the idea of coming into this world, made me push for over 2 1/2 hours but finally graced us with her presence. I kept wanting to go to sleep between contractions and kept telling Jon to wake me up when it was time to push again! It was totally exhausting, but definitely worth it! She had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice and body once, but surprisingly was totally fine! Plus, I am pretty sure that she was trying to come out the wrong way, forehead first. Boy is she a trooper! I guess that's why it took her so long to come out. And just like that our little girl was here and it was love at first sight!