My due date of Nov. 5th had come and gone and i was starting to get frustrated and miserable. So on Tuesday the 9th i decided i needed to get off my butt and start walking. Of course it was dark and cold out so i put Friends in the dvd player and started pacing back and forth around the living room and in between bounced on my excersize ball. After an hour had past i decided to go to bed thinking i would walk a bunch more the next day.
Lucky me i woke up at one am with strong, but irregular contractions. I waited a couple hours not sure what to do, but by 3am i was crying when my contractions hit. I called the hospital and my mom to come pick me up. Once my mom arrived i called Anthony (he has been working in oak harbor the past few months and staying there). We got to the hospital at 4:30am and they strapped me to the machines to monitor me, by that time i was moaning for the epidural. They checked me and i was almost 4cm dialated. I had to wait in that little room while they took half an hour to prepare my room. I was irritated again.Finally the room was ready and a nurse helped me walk to it. Then i had to wait for over an hour for the anesthesiologist to come and give me my epidural. Anthony showed up at the hospital sometime in that hour. By then the contractions were unbearable and i was drifting between each one. I didn't even feel the epidural go in by the time the anesthesiologist arrived. He wanted me to read and sign a waiver, i scribbled my name i didn't care what the paper said. Within minutes i felt relief, no more pain. Just slight pressure each time a contraction hit. I was able to take a nap while anthony and both my moms went to eat breakfast. The dr. came in at 9am to break my water but it had already broken on its own :) Around that time they checked me again and i was almost dialated to 10cm! I think we were all shocked, i expected to labor throughout the day.
By 10am i was ready to push but the dr. was performing an emergancy c-section so they had me labor down and wait an hour. That scared me because i thought she would come out without me knowing it (haha yea right!) Finally at 11am the nurses had me start pushing. My epidural was perfect, i didn't feel pain but i knew when to push without them telling me to. Finally the dr. came in and i really started pushing. After 29 minutes of pushing Ava Brianna made her appearance! The dr. had me stop pushing after she was halfway out and i reached down and pulled her the rest of the way out and brought her to me, which was the most amazing experience. They immediately put blankets on her and she started crying (as did everyone else in the room). I held her a little while and then they took her away to measure and weigh her. She was 7lb 6oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She was a perfect baby in the hospital and still is! Pretty much sleeping 3-4 hour blocks through the night, i hope it lasts. I love her more and more each day and often just stare and stare at her, she is the most beautiful baby :) I had an easy pregnancy and a great birth. I am so so so lucky to finally have my little girl.
below is a video i took of ava making faces :) watch until the very end!
