My Story - Part Three; The End of My Pregnancy

    The epidural was working, I was feeling pretty good! Jared and I were able to take naps and we just enjoyed our time together. The nurses would come to check on me and finally the midwife came to check how dilated I was. Finally, I was at 5 cm. She said that usually at this point with the drug speeding up my contractions, I should dilate another inch every hour, if I'm like the average woman. 

    Jared did the math and said I should be around 9-10 by 10:00 that night. So we waited and waited and watched TV and waited. Jared went out to eat again and came back and we waited some more. 

    We took another nap and the midwife came back around 8:30 to check up on me. Jared was hoping I was around 8 cm because of the math. When the midwife said I was 9.5 and it was time to get the delivery going, we got so excited! Well, Jared got excited, I got a little scared and nervous. I couldn't really feel anything from the waist down, so I wasn't sure how this whole pushing concept was going to work. 

    But we got me set up, they checked the monitor and told me when to push! It was pretty laid back, again, I refused to be one of the loud people in movies. Breathing went out the window though. I'd take a huge breath and just held it in while I pushed. The nurse had to remind me to breathe out each time before I took another breath.

    They weren't kidding when they said she was ready to come out. After the first couple, she was just a push away. A few more pushes, and she was out! My stomach deflated, they cleaned off our baby girl a little bit, sucked the stuff out of her throat and let me hold her. She was perfect! Totally worth the 9 months of being pregnant and worth the pain earlier that day. Even though I was exhausted (we had been there since 3 that morning and had her at 9:04) I was so happy! And Jared couldn't have been happier! He took pictures of her first few moments of being measured and cleaned and all that. 

    I was a little upset I couldn't see her. The nurses were all in the way, trying to clean her and help me with the after stuff. Jared would come back and check on me and tell me about out little girl. She still didn't have a name and he was having a hard time deciding. So I got to pick Aubrey Lynne. 

    I just wanted to hold her and see her. But I guess I lost a little more blood than I should have and I lost all the color in my face and lips. It didn't help either that I was shaking uncontrollably. It passed though and they finally let me hold our little girl!

    She is absolutely beautiful. Born at 9:04 PM April 15th. Weight 7lbs and 5oz. About 19 inches long. She has Jared's nose and I think his hair color. Her hair in back looks like mine, but it's lighter on top like Jared's. Her eyes are beautiful and I hope they turn into Jared's color. 

    We love her so much!