I have to write down her birth story before I forget the details. It was so fast and nothing really crazy happened (besides, ending up with a baby!!) and I was pleasantly surprised at what a weirdly great experience it was.
I had a pretty smooth pregnancy. second and third trimester were especially nice. I kept thinking that I'd miss being pregnant because I felt really healthy, didn't gain too much weight so I was still pretty active and the belly wasn't really getting in the way, and I loved how nice friends and perfect strangers were while I was pregnant! I'd go for walks around the office during breaks and almost everyone would congratulate me or ask if it was a girl or a boy. I felt pretty special :) I kept thinking that if pregnancy is so smooth, labor and delivery will make up for it in pain and complications (i know, not very positive). I just kept hoping that she'd wait till after my mom and dad got back from Iran but I really didn't want to go past my due date either because I wanted delivery to be over and to spend my time off with the baby. My time off started on monday the 14th which was the day my parents came back and I had planned on trying to induce labor that tuesday or wednesday. that wednesday morning, at 3am I woke up with some cramps. I didn't think anything of it because the braxton hicks contractions I had been getting since 34 weeks felt really different. The cramps kept coming and going irregularly all morning. At 11am, I called labor and delivery and described the pain and told them that I really didn't think I was experiencing contractions but I was worried why I was having cramps. they said to wait and see if they went away. Scott had the day off and we had planned on a date day full of outings so we were both bummed that I couldn't really leave the house. We kept thinking damn, the one day we wanted to have a cutesy day out, I had to go and get sick! haha! Anyways, the cramps kept getting more and more intense to the point where I couldn't talk through them any more. They were about 3-4 minutes apart at 9:45pm when we called labor and delivery and they told us to come in. Even then we weren't convinced that I was in labor. we took our bags and I told my mom and sister to meet us at the hospital but kept saying "they'll probably send us home but come anyways". in the car we kept saying how nice it was to be so close to the hospital cuz this could be the first of many times we'd go in and be sent home :)
when we got there, I was already at 4.5 centimeters! It was the real deal! we were both so surprised. They asked me if I wanted an epidural and at first I thought, maybe not, but then decided that the reward after labor is the baby whether or not you get an epidural so I opted to get it and so glad that I did!! I was close to 7 centimeters by the time I got it. my water broke when they were checking me. After I got the epidural, I was able to relax and actually enjoy the experience! It was fantastic! I pushed for about 15 minutes and could feel everything except for pain, and she was out! I can't say it was easy and painless because it wasn't, but it was smooth and uncomplicated. they put her on my chest and it took her a minute to let out a cry but she was perfect! and just like that our lives did a 180. she was born at 5:51 am on 11/17/11 at 7.69 lbs and 18.5 inches tall. we're in love.
