We were up bright and early Tuesday morning - 4:30am to be exact. We had to be at the hospital by 5:45. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that today would be our baby's birthday. This was the last time we'd be at our house as a family of 3.
Here's my last "pregnant" picture outside of the hospital. It made me sad to think this was the last time I'd probably ever be pregnant, but we were SO anxious to meet our Little One. Everyone that gazed upon me in the days leading up to this could only comment on how enormous I was. My belly was definitely bigger than it was with Ellison, and I felt that huge, too.
Poor Grandpapa got up early with us, too. He wanted to say his prayers, and decided to stay up in case Ellison woke up. Papa stayed with Ellison while me, Jonathan, and Grandma went to the hospital. She wasn't real thrilled with that scenario because she so badly wanted Grandma to stay with her, but Grandma actually got the opportunity to watch one of her grandchildren be born. More on how Ellison coped later...
Here we are! At Women's Hospital.
Before they started anything, they checked my cervix and I was already dilated to 5cm! I have a feeling I would've had the baby that day even if we weren't going to be induced. After 3 IV sticks, they finally got the Pitocin started. My OB thought it might be a good idea to get the epidural in before she came in to break my water, since she thought it would progress very quickly after that. I debated about this, since I wasn't feeling too bad at this point. So after talking with the nurse, I decided we'd wait until I was getting uncomfortable. Well, that didn't take long at all!
Obviously I'm feelin' some pain! Dr. Richardson came in to break my water, and she said I'd probably have the baby before lunch. I began progressing rather quickly, and was at 7cm before we knew it. So I got the epidural, and regretted waiting, since it felt like it took too many nasty contractions before it kicked in, and then it only kicked in on my left side. After fiddling around a little, they pulled the epidural back, and finally it was working like it should. I seriously don't know how any woman does this labor thing without an epidural! I remember my friend who recently had a baby without an epidural, "If I could have jumped out the window I would have." I get it.
My friend, Megan, joined us for the delivery. Months ago she offered to be the photographer so Jonathan could be in the moment, and I was happy to oblige. We also didn't know at the time that my mom was going to be able to be present. I'm not always the most modest person.
Check out that belly! Huge!
Sure enough, before we knew it I was dilated to 10cm, and was told Dr. Richardson would be here by 11:25am (about 5-10 minutes away), then I could start pushing...
[January 18, 2011]
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