Perfection

I know you are probably dying for pictures, so here are some of the over 300 we've taken so far.

I wish you all could see her though - the camera just doesn't do her justice - she is flawless.

First, some stats:

I was in labor for a total of four hours - maybe four and a half. We were in the hospital for an hour before she was born - they finished admitting me after she was born - and I was pushing for 15 minutes of that hour. She was 8lbs, 7oz, and 20 inches long.

Wednesday morning, we had a doctor's appointment. Frank, as we affectionately call our doctor behind his back, told us my cervix had softened a lot, but was still really high, which could mean one of a couple of things: that we still had a number of days to go and she would likely be induced this weekend, or, that she was too big to descend and engage, and might not be able to fit through the birth canal, which would require a c-section, whether I wanted to try going through labor or not.

Needless to say, I left the appointment feeling discouraged. Would this baby ever come? And would she be able to come naturally at all?

After the appointment, I took a nap, and then Parker and I went to lunch, and then I went to work for the afternoon. I was feeling some Braxton Hicks contractions ( = painless practice contractions), which wasn't abnormal for a doctor's exam day. I went home at 5, craving a yummy salad, which Parker went out to get. We sat down around 6 to eat dinner, and while I was eating I felt what must have been my first labor pain, although I didn't think anything of it at the time, as I had felt more pain on days previous. Well, the pains continued, although not at regular intervals, and I called the doctor. He said he would check on me again that night or in the morning. He called a little over an hour later, and by then I was having very regular, painful contractions. He suggested we head to the hospital, but didn't tell us to hurry or anything.

By then time we arrived at just past 10, I was hurting a lot, and shaking. When we got into the room, the nurse told us I was 8 or 9 cm dilated (you start pushing at 10cm). So, there went the opportunity for any kind of pain medication, including an epidural. Frank came, and found that I was 10cm dilated, and then he broke my water. The next thing I know, he was telling me I could push on the next contraction, and I thought, "are you serious?" It was hapenning so fast! And I kind of panicked, because I could tell I needed to push, but I didn't want to. But they made me, and the next thing I knew, there she was! Just an hour later.

I think we were in shock the rest of that night.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

She can't wait to meet you all!

Love,

Briana