December 1st 2007. A day that will forever be special to us, and to our families. This is the day that our little girl entered our lives.
It all started on Friday night. After deciding we had no food to eat, and a limited number of days remaining to eat out we headed out to one of our regular asian eateries and had some sushi for dinner. Dinner was lovely and tasty as always and we headed home for the night. I quickly got into my PJs and settled into my favorite corner of the sofa when I felt... well a little wet. Hmm. While it wasn't a lot, i was pretty sure it was my water breaking. So we called my doctor and she asked we head to the hospital to have the baby monitored and to verify my water did infact break. So after some rushing around to pack a bag and call our parents and put the Doula on alert we where off to the hospital. It was about 9:00pm when we where checked in.
The doctor confirmed my water had broke, and prefered we stayed at the hospital at that point. So we where admitted and left alone to labor naturally until the next morning when I would be given pitocin if we hadn't progressed enough. Once your water breaks it is generally thought that the baby needs to be delivered within 24 hours. The night was long and there was little sleep going on, however we didn't get enough accomplished to go without the pitocin. At 6am the pitocin drip started.
I was still trying to have this baby without any unnecessary drugs though, so we labored on all morning as planned. My contractions became stronger and longer as the time passed by but I wasn't progressing as much as I had hoped I was. At 1:00 I decided I needed a plan. If I was almost fully dilated in another hour I would press on drug free. But if by 2:00 we still anticipated a significant period of laboring before we could push I would have an epidural. This hour timeline I established for myself ended up being the hardest hour in my entire labor. We suspected she was not in the prefered anterior position. Meaning I was having "back labor". It was wicked. Had it not been for my fabulously wonderful husband and our super doula I would have packed my bags and given up. Just stop the labor now, I decided I am not having this baby. My hour was up. My doctor showed up and we where only 7cm, meaning there where another 3 to go and I was at my breaking point.
I asked for the epidural. The relief was nearly immediate. I was able to rest for the next 2 (or was it 3) hours. We even slept. I would have to conserve my energy for pushing. The next time I was checked the baby had decended to the +2 station and it was time to prepare for the pushing.
The pushing was intense. I think it lasted around 2 hours. I had my own personal cheering section and it was great help in keeping my focus and energy directed to delivery. It was a lot of work, and in the end the doctor needed to use suction to help the baby and her big noggin out of my body.
So much of the rest is a blur. Our little 8lb 4oz bundle of joy made her way into our world.
It wasn't long that she was put into her daddy's arms for the first time while we delivered the placenta and I was stitched up from my small tear.
We decided on the name Eleni Jean, and our hearts have forever been changed by this little wonder. Every day that passes the birth experience memory becomes less vivid. The memory of the pain fades as new memories of our daughter are created.
Overall we spent 24 hours in labor. Kevin and I went about 41 hours without sleep aside from a few cat naps. I had gone 27 hours without food. I threw up three times. Pushed for two hours. Had I heard these statistics before it all started I would have been scared. I would have wanted to avoid this entire situation. However, after having been through this past weekend I must say it was worth every discomfort.
