I know I probably sound like a crazy woman when I say this, but giving birth is the coolest thing ever. I should add that I had an epidural (which was ah-mazing!) so that's probably why we had such a great experience. I think the anticipation and worrying about getting the epidural was way worse than the actual birth...I didn't feel a thing! Well, I did feel pressure but it didn't hurt at all. We got to the hospital at 5:00 pm and got settled in and then around 6:00 pm they applied a gel to my cervix in order to start my contractions - they started almost immediately! They were bareable for a while but then they started the Pitocin at midnight and it wasn't long before I asked for the epi. I was so incredibly nervous to get the epidural and it scared Jordan so much that he couldn't even watch or hold my hand. Luckily Kettering has awesome nurses and my nurse held my hand and calmed me down because I was so tense. The epi didn't take too long to get in and before I knew it I was completely pain free and could finally get some sleep.
I'm not sure what time it was because I was 1/2 asleep but they came in a little while later to break my water. This really got the ball rolling! I went from 5 to 10 cm's within a little over an hour! The nurse wanted to do some practice pushes until my OB could get up but we had to stop after about 2 because she was coming so fast! She almost took my legs out of the stirrups and then she got a call that my OB was coming up the elevator so we just stopped. I heard her say "No he can't change into scrubs, get him here now!" - it scared me at the time, but now we laugh about that :) Dr. Altman came running into the room, we pushed a few times (I was told I'm a "great pusher", apparently) and she was here at 7:52 am! Jordan and I were both in tears and Dr. Altman immediately put her up to me so that I could give her a kiss, Jordan cut the cord and then he got to hold her for the first time. We were able to hold her and kiss her for a while before they took her to be checked, weighed, etc...which I loved. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and she was 22 inches long -- so a pretty good sized little girl. I don't think it could have gone better!
It's been just over a month since Sophia was born and it seems like we've had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows since then. Lot's of stuff going on and a lot of changes! Sophia has been wonderful :) She is such a sweet little girl and has started giving us little grins within the last couple days...it's the cutest thing! She is so much more alert now, it's incredible. She loves to stare at lights or the ceiling fan, I wish I could be so easily amused! Sleep was really hard for a while. This week she is finally sleeping much better and only gets up once (usually around 3 or 4 am) for a feeding and then sleeps until about 7 or 8. I'm definitely looking forward to the day that she sleeps through the whole night :)
We have really sad news as well...We had to put down our little chihuaha, Tyson, on Friday night. We're still not exactly sure what was wrong with him but his vet thought that it was likely his liver or kidney's. He wasn't eating, throwing up a bit and just not himself at all. It was a really hard decision but we had to put him down so he wouldn't be sick anymore. It's been really hard on us...I hate that he died so young, he was only 4. So far Lola (our other chihuaha) has been fine, I'm not sure she realizes yet. We've just been spoiling her and giving her extra treats lately.
Anyways, I think most have already seen these photos but here are some pictures from a little session I had with Sophia at the house - she slept through the whole thing! I have lots more candid shots from over the weeks that I need to upload, I'll have those up soon as well! I'm sure there are some grandma's who want to see those :)
