Hello World

Dashel Robin joined our family early Sunday morning at 8:41am. True to his nickname, "Dash" arrived after approximately 6 hours of labor, which is pretty quick for a first time mom! 

As explained in my Overdue post, we had been anxiously awaiting Dash's arrival ever since he "dropped" a week earlier. Dash's head was so low that the doctor couldn't exactly tell how dilated I was on our Tuesday (Dec 30) appointment, but he predicted that baby would be born within a week. We were starting to doubt this prediction as the due date came and went. 

As we went to bed Saturday night, Matt remarked, "I think we'll sleep well tonight." I remember thinking, "We'll see." Not because I thought baby was going to come, but simply because I felt like he would come when we least expected it. At 2:50am, I woke up to intense contractions. I tried breathing exercises, different sitting positions, and running around the apartment to deal with the pain, while Matt dutifully tracked the contractions to see if they were long and strong enough to merit a trip to the hospital. At 3:50am we were gathering our bags and loading into the car. 

I was hoping the whole way to the hospital that this wasn't another false alarm- so the fact that I was still having painful contractions was actually a consolation. We made it to labor and delivery, where the nurse said that I had dilated to 5 centimeters and admitted me around 4:30am. My parents and sister arrived a little after 5am, just in time for me to receive an epidural. For the record, epidurals are THE BOMB. To give you an idea of the difference it made, check out this picture: 

Around 6am, the doctor on call came in and broke my water to speed up the process. Because I basically felt no pain, I was actually able to take a nap afterwards. When the doctor came in again around 8am, to our surprise he said I was ready to push. I was so grateful for the nurse's and doctor's encouragement as I pushed. Since I couldn't feel anything, it was hard to tell if I was making any progress, but they assured me I was. They even pulled out a mirror for me to see, but I only got a few glimpses since I had my eyes squeezed shut when I was pushing. Forty minutes and an episiotomy later, Dash made his appearance. 

It was so overwhelming to have the nurse put Dash on my chest. I couldn't believe I had made it. It seemed like I was going to be pregnant forever, and to finally see the actual work product was a joyous experience.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah