Because I had dilated from a 1 to a 4 so quickly, I was really hurting at this point in labor, so the nurse gave me some stadol which was an interesting drug. She described it as drinking a 6 pack of beer all at once (which I've never done by the way)--I can see how that would be accurate though. It didn't take the pain away, but it did calm me down enough that I could seem to tolerate it a little bit better.
Around 11pm the anesthesiologist came to put my epidural in. She is someone I work with all the time, and she lightened the mood greatly, which was amazing. Getting the epidural was one of my biggest fears, but everyone told me that I would be in so much pain that it wouldn't matter--again, very true :) It was in within 10 minutes and the pain relief began. I could still feel my contractions, but they were much much more tolerable, just more of an uncomfortable pressure. They broke my water at 1am, and I seemed to stall at a 5 for a couple of hours. They considered starting pitocin to speed things up, but my doctor said to just let me wait another hour to see what happened. Sure enough, one hour later, I was a 7. Things progressed pretty normally from there on out. Around 6am I started to feel nauseous again, and the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 10. Instead of pushing right away, they allowed me to "labor down"--waited just an hour and let my body push the baby down further into my pelvis.
Around 7:15am my dr came in and we did a few test pushes and determined it was go-time. Pushing was a weird sensation. I had the epidural numbness still, but could still feel the urge to push, which was nice. I pushed for about an hour and Chloe was born at 820am weighing in at 6lbs 14oz and measuring 20.5in. It was the most amazing feeling seeing her when she came out, all slimy and blue but the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The entire staff at the hospital cheered and we had the next hour to just get to know each other--she was VERY awake which was great. I did have a 2nd degree tear, but got a few stitches and have felt fine. Keith did amazing through the entire thing, and would probably describe seeing the birth of his child as nothing short of a miracle.
We are in love with our little girl to say the least. She is changing every day already, and she's only 5 days old!! I can't even begin to imagine how fast time is going to fly, so I'm going to get off here and enjoy her :) We would appreciate your prayers for sleep, health and just a safe holiday season. Keith goes back to work on Monday, so pray that mom and Chloe keep it together--with help from Grandma and aunt Connie, I'm sure :) Thank you in advance for your prayers, both the ones you have prayed for our family during my pregnancy and the ones you will pray in the future--stay tuned for pics of our little princess :)
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