The Labor story

December 15th I started to have contractions at work which lead into disappointment as we were sent home from the hospital in pre-labor. We were told that pre-labor could last anywhere from a couple of hours to weeks. Well, for us it ended up being weeks. I heard so many people say that the last weeks were the hardest, but I always assumed it was the hardest cause you are so big and uncomfortable, but for me it was the hardest cause I was so anxious to meet my angle.

December 28th we were scheduled to induce at 6:00am. I was so excited the night before that I got no sleep. I expected that I would be able to nap before the contractions got bad, but I was wrong. We arrived at 6:10am and they started us on the medicine right away. What I didn't realize was the nurse had to come in every 1/2 hour to up my medicine and check me. So sleep was not an option. My plan was to get as far as I could with no epidural, and I think I did pretty good.

Here is a good friend (one of the elders of our church)that works in the hospital came to visit. This was nice cause you are only aloud to have 4 people visit while in labor, but he has rank and was able to stop in to say hi.

This was a strong contraction before my epidural. The number on the right top corner measures the intensity of a contraction. When going into transition (the last part of labor) they top the chart and go over 100!

This is my nurse. She was the best!!
At about 2:30pm and 4-5cm I requested for an epidural. I was really scared for the epidural but everything went perfect. No pain and no side effects.

CAN YOU BELIEVE DAD STAYED WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME !! Thanks dad, that meant a lot for you to be there. Especially telling me when the contraction was coming down!

This is one of my best friends. Her new nick name..... Leg holder :) What a trooper she was. As I pushed Madalyn out she suffered having to hold my leg up. I am sure her arm was jello by time we were done.

This was my diet all day.. Ice chips. And this was the last picture aloud by me before having to push.

At approximately 8:30 the nurse came in and told me to push a little bit. She said we still had to wait for Madalyn to come down some more. I rolled on my side and 10 minutes later the doctor was being called and it was time to push. 9:59 she arrived.