After 44 hours of labor, Delilah Jean graced us with her presence!

8lbs 1.6 oz

21 inches long

12:13pm

She's the most wonderful thing in the entire world.

It started on Friday with another check up since she was late (9 days late at that point) and her fluids were way down.  That meant that the placenta wasn't giving her the amount of nutrients it had previously been giving her.  If the levels are less than 5, they send you over to the hospital for an induction.  

I had actually gone to work that morning and just left for my appointment.  I called work and let them know.  Called my mom and let her know.  We headed back to the house to grab all of our stuff, everyone was so excited!  

When we got there, I got hooked up to an IV and an external fetal heart monitor as well as a monitor to measure my contractions.  I was started on a pill that was given every 4 hours, up to 6 times to get me dilated.   I walked the halls, ate some supper, hung out with Mom and Ben.  After 24 hours, those pills had done nothing for me.  Next up was the 12 hour med.  For the first 6 hours or so, I did really well...then the contractions started.  I was breathing through them pretty well, but I was also feeling a bit queasy, so I skipped dinner.  As the night moved forward, I couldn't even walk the halls anymore...every step was painful. I laid on my side back in the room and they got worse and worse.  I had no sense of time.  Ben was timing them and comforting me during it all.  After awhile of these contractions, I became delirious with the pain and lost sense of time.  At 1am, I was checked again, and had only dilated to a 3.  My doctor told my mom and Ben that I was "uninducable".  They had to get me on pitocin and ordered me an epidural.  

Again, I was so out of it that I didn't really know what was going on.  It was like 2 or 3 hours until they could start the pitocin and get me the epidural because the dr was doing a c-section.  When they finally came in and got it for me, I didn't even feel the epidural go in.  Ben and my mom couldn't watch because the needle was so big.  After the epidural, I got almost instant relief.  After 36 hours of labor, I think I deserved a break.  

I got some sleep, but not too much because I knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  I knew I would soon hold my baby in my arms.  The prospect was so exciting!  At around 7ish, I was checked again, and was dilated at a 9!  The nurse said that Delilah would be here before lunchtime.  

AHHH!!!

Around 10ish, they turned off my epidural so that I would know how to push.  I still couldn't feel anything, but I could feel the push.  I started around 11:15 or so, and Delilah was here at 12:13pm!  She came out, let out a wail, and they put her on my chest.  She was so alert and didn't cry, she just looked at me.  I started crying, Ben had tears in his eyes.  It was the most wonderful moment of my life.  I watched as she was cleaned up and weighed and Ben was by her side the entire time.  My mom came into the room and cried and met her first granddaughter.  Words don't explain the emotion in that room after she was born.  

My life will never be the same, and I can't wait to continue on with this adventure.