She's finally here! (long)

After much whining and complaining, along with a lot of praying and a cooperative (wonderful!) doctor, she's finally here! She weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz (not as big as I first thought, but big enough!), 20 inches long and is beautiful. Hubby and I are totally smitten. For safety reasons, I can't post her name, even though I would love to. We did decide on one after much debating and I was right. We had to see her before we could decide.

As for labor, I can say I've had better even though all the prayers were answered and I only had a 10 hour labor. I went in Wednesday night after church and we started my pitocin around 9 pm. I labored until Midnight when my doctor made a surprise visit (he had just had a delivery and decided to stop by). He asked me, "Want me to break your water?" With my first delivery with Punky, I feared my water breaking after reading contractions were so much more intense. So I got an epidural before then out of fear. i never had an ounce of pain with her. With Chicken, I had a kidney stone so I got my epidural almost immediately going in for an induction and my water didn't break until 15 hours later. So I hesitated to let him. I finally agreed and was surprised that while they were harder, they weren't excruciating like I thought. But he did tell me there was no telling how fast i might go and if i intended on getting one, I might want to go ahead. Sure! If you want me to get an epidural dude, i'm down with that! ;oD

My epidural was shotty at best and that's being nice. The anesthesiologist had the nerve to ask ME, YES ME!, if I thought he was between my vertebrae when he was searching for the place to put the needle. When he poked me, he hit SEVERAL nerves in my left side and it took me jerking, practically crying before he finally got it right. Mind you, my first two epidurals were a breeze, never hurt and worked perfectly. this one, my left side was completely numb and my right side was numb but tingly, just on the verge of feeling coming back.

Also, I had a hot spot in my behind area. All night long i felt the pressure of each contraction. Not just pressure but PAINFUL pressure. As the night wore on, it got much worse. That hot "spot" became a hot area and then a hot vicinity. Finally, I realized even though I was pushing that little button for more meds, it wasn't working. My wonderful nurse checked me and told me i was at 7 cm. That was at 5 am. Hubby had gone home. Hubby was supposed to get in a full day of work before this kid came.

Holy stink, it's time to call the hubby because he had a 35 minute drive!

Not only was it almost time, my epidural was wearing off at a rapid pace and the anesthesiologist was taking his sweet time. Just when i couldn't bear it anymore, he appears with two large vials to bolust the meds. It worked great. Yeah, a little too great. Not only were my legs completely numb, my hands got tingly. Then I realized my skin on my upper back was numb. Then I started feeling REALLY loopy and sleepy. Then I fell asleep thinking something must have gone wrong. Boy, let me tell you isn't THAT a comforting feeling to fall asleep to.

I wake up to the nurse asking me what was wrong, if i was still with her, and the anesthesiologist hovering. i tell them I'm feeling drunk and incredibly sleepy. No telling what else I told them. i could have admitted to being Elvis's secret love child for all I remember. is this normal I asked? The guy that did this to me looked a little spacey for a minute and said, "Yeah, I guess." Who is this dude and why is he out to get me? "Sensation will move back down eventually." Um..are we talking in a few minutes, a few hours or I-don't-really-know-because-I'm-an-idiot-and-cheated-my-way-through-college?

Well, it didn't go away. In fact, the only sensation I had was two hours later when the epidural wore off AGAIN in my crotch. Wait, i'm complete! it's time to push! I had about 60% feeling down there although thankfully i was still somewhat numb. That was better than nothing, although i can certainly guarantee you I was motivated to get the kid out. I pushed for about 10 minutes and the nurse called the doc. When he got there it took 3 pushes to get her head out and two or three to get the rest of her out. I felt a little of the "ring of fire", all of the pressure, but when her little body came out, it was all forgotten. My doctor cradled her, cut her umbilical cord and placed her on my tummy.

This is where my details get fuzzy, thanks to the epidural. I remember watching her on my belly. i couldn't do much because my doggone arms were just numb enough i didn't want to risk doing much. They took her and assessed her and I laid there waiting. The doc stitched me up (thankfully only a first degree tear) and then massaged my uterus to deliver the placenta.

What happened then I certainly remember clearly because I thought I was dying. He pushed near the top and I felt a pop. My placenta came shooting out of my body and literally bounced off his stomach and fell to the floor. He stood there, looking completely grossed out (yes, my doctor) and said, "Whoa." I demanded to know what just happened and he just looked dumbstruck. I wish i could have taken a picture for him. I honestly don't think he KNEW what happened. He looked at the nurse and said, "Did you see that?" She nodded and told him he made a mess. "I've never seen that happen before!" he said and then explained to me that my uterus had literally just shot out of my body. "Is that bad? Am i hemmorraging?"' Had i been in a lucid state, i probably would have suspected that the pop had been my uterus or something. Man! What an insane way to deliver!

Our new little bundle of joy has been just that. Hubby seems to recall our first two being really fussy and crying a lot in the hospital. So far she's only been fussing when she's hungry or gassy. it seems she's a little more even keeled, but I'm already suspecting reflux and a sensitive stomach. We'll see! I'll update more when we go home. It'll be sometime tomorrow but no telling when I'll be able to blog again. Life is about to get really hectic!