Our precious bundle of joy arrived May 21st. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches long. I got induced between 8 and 9 a.m. and delivered her at 2:18 p.m. I got the Epidural about an hour and a half after they started the Pitocin. The Nurse that put in my IV was training and it was the most painful IV I have ever had, it seriously took her about 15 min. to get it in. The whole time I felt very nauseated and I wondered to myself "How did I have 3 babies naturally, I am such a wimp." Although I have to admit I have always been scared of needles, I always have to look away when I get a shot. Anyway, I asked Alan to hold my hand because I was really nervous, and when the Anesthesiologist was about to start, I looked down at my left forearm (near my IV) and saw that it was ballooning out and felt really cold and weird. I asked "Ah, is this normal?" The Nurse told the Anesthesiologist to stop and had him switch the IV to the other side (Which took him 10 seconds) and it felt so much better, although my left forearm still felt really weird, I guess the fluids from the IV were no longer going into my vain, but filling up my arm. Back to the Epidural. He told me to curl up on my side and he could insert the Epidural Catheter, but apparently I was not curled up enough because I herd popping noises and a sharp pain in my back, and he told me that he hit a little bit of bone and I needed to curl up even more. I did and it felt so much better. I looked up at Alan who was still holding hand, and he was leaning way over the bed with his eyes closed. He let go of my hand and went and sat down. The Anesthesiologist saw that he was getting faint and ordered him to go lye down on the couch and had the Nurse get him some juice. After Alan felt better he said he was "Trying to be strong," so I wouldn't think it was bad, but he just got so dizzy he thought it better to sit down instead of passing out. Right after the epidural I felt an instant numbness travel through my legs. I didn't feel any contractions for quite awhile, although the machine I was hooked up to said that I was still having regular contractions and some were pretty strong. We put in the movie "Ever After" and after that we both took a nap. What a nap? During labor? Crazy cool. When I got to the hospital I was dilated to a 3 and awhile later (hours later) I was a 4 and awhile later (hours) I was a 5. Alan and I were expecting a slow labor at this pace. The Nurse instructed me to call her as soon as I feel ALLOT of pressure (I was thinking that would be hours away) and 15 min. later I called her in because I felt ALLOT of pressure. She checked me and I was a 9. They started prepping for delivery and called our midwife in. 2 or 3 pushes later, Alan caught the slippery baby and held her up. "It's a Girl!" They put the beautiful baby on my chest while they cut the umbilical cord. I got to hold her for about 5 minutes before they whisked her into the NICU to give her oxygen. I guess she was breathing really fast and the oxygen helped slow that down. The took blood tests that determined something? that may indicate she has an infection. They also took x rays of her chest and they looked cloudy, which could mean Pneumonia. They started her on antibiotics "Just in case." Who knows what really was or wasn't wrong, I am just grateful that she is OK and we were able to take her home with us. Ellie has been a sweet handful, mostly because her sleeping clock was completely backwards, but she is doing allot better.
