The Birth Story

Wow, what an incredible experience the last few days have been. There aren't many words to describe the feeling of becoming a parent, but for those of you who are you know what I'm talking about. Ashley is truly an amazing blessing and we feel so lucky to have her. Everything has gone perfectly with her arrival and she is just the most perfect little being. Most of you have heard the birth story, but for those who haven't, here it is! I never know what to tell people when they ask how long the labor was because it was a progressive thing over three days. I started having mild cramps on Saturday morning, but didn't really get too excited about them because I've heard so many stories of "false labor", I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sunday the cramps (contractions) got a little more intense, but nothing consistent. Monday morning I woke up at 2:30am and felt pretty intense contractions that we were able to start timing at about 8am which were 10 min apart and 40sec long. We timed for an hour an decided this was it. I finished my last minute cleaning and organizing, Brian took one last trip to the grocery store and we spent the rest of the day just him and I getting really excited for how our lives were about to change. After a long walk because of the multiple times stopping for contractions we were ready to go to the hospital at about 2pm Monday. At that time my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 1+ minutes. We got settled into the hospital and got checked out, I was 4cm and 90% effaced at that time. I have to say I was a little disappointed because I wanted to do most of my labor at home and coming in at 4cm wasn't what I had in mind. But I stayed positive and was willing to do anything to get things going. We went and got some food and walked around outside for an hour. Around 5:00 my doctor checked me out and said that I was 5cm now and 100% effaced. She stripped my membranes and minutes after my water broke. Yikes what a difference that made in my contractions, this is were it got really difficult. The contractions were now 2 minutes apart and lasting over a minute. I didn't have any time to relax in between and it got pretty scary. I continued on with labor feeling like I was in transition from the symptoms only to find out around 8pm that I hadn't made any progress and I was still 5cm. My heart sank and I didn't have anything left in me. Everyone knew that I wanted to go natural so they were giving me encouragement and suggested more walking, etc but I was so scared for the next contraction I didn't have in in me to even move an inch. I decided to get the epidural and had relief by 9pm. I can't describe the relief I experienced and we were finally able to enjoy this life changing experience. In one hour I went from 5cm to 10cm and was ready to push. I couldn't believe how fast the change was, all I needed was to relax. Brian was amazing through the whole process and was there for me every step of the way. I couldn't have done it without him. He's jumped right in with being "pappa" and absolutely adores his daughter. It's been amazing to see him bond with her and we both have fallen more in love with her every second that goes by. Thank you for all your comments, we feel blessed to have all your support. Keep an eye on the blog and we'll post pictures whenever we get the chance.