Madelin's Arrival

Well, just as we had started losing hope of her getting here by her due date (May 30th) good signs started showing up. All weekend I'd been having bad but still irregular contractions. On Sunday they started getting pretty awful. So bad in fact that I needed a little emotional support. This is where mom and dad come in. For a couple hours they join me in some "tv watching" and contraction timing. After a couple of hours without any progress my dad suggests a walk. Usually I would have been up for a walk, but not this time. He managed to get me out for a short half block walk before I was ready to turn back.
As soon as we get back I feel something very, well, uncomfortable. Come to find out later this was my water breaking. So off the the hospital we went. Three painful hours later, I got my epidural. Oh, the wonderful epidural. I was able to get a long nap in at this point. Apparently, I was the only one that was able to sleep that night. When the nurse woke me up for the last time I was dialated all the way to 10. So much for that painful transition stage. (Thanks again to the nurse-anesthetist) Since I was fully dilated they told me to labor down for an hour to see how much progress could be made. After that hour, I was able to start "practice" pushing. After 15 minutes, however, I was told to stop or the doctor wouldn't make it. So, another 15 minutes later the doctor shows up, and one big push later, Madelin shows up! And through all this Andrew was right there beside me. I had the best labor experience, didn't feel a thing after my block, and will probably pay for it with my next pregnancies I'm sure.