Natalie Lucille's Birth Story

Natalie Lucille is here! Brad and I are so proud to announce her birth.

Here's how she made her entrance into this world (warning, labor talk full speed ahead):

We had scheduled an induction for Sunday at 4pm if the baby didn't make her grand entrance into the world. As has been previously stated, Sunday was my birthday. So, Brad and I planned to make Saturday a "special" day for the two of us.

We went out for Chinese food and walked around the mall a bit. While walking, I had a few contrax, but nothing too exciting. We went home and puttered around the house. We had a late dinner. As we were finishing, I felt a small bit of what felt like a little pee escape...like Could it be my water?

So, we got in the car and drove to the hospital. What's the worst that could happen? They send us home? This was 8:30.We got to the hospital and checked in at 9:15. We were triaged and finally around 10:30 the staff confirmed my water was broken, but I was still only 4cm, so I was told to prepare for a long night. If only they knew....

We were taken to a labor room and I decided to jump through the shower. That felt awesome. We also planned to take a walk after the nurse did some basic fetal monitoring. Of course, the baby opted to not cooperate with said monitoring, so our 20-minute monitor turned into 30, into 40-minutes.

Then, out of no where, I started contracting....hard. They were starting within 90 seconds of each other and lasting about a minute. I had no drugs or IV at this point, and was in so so so much pain. Brad was awesome, coaching me through each contraction. I was kind of proud of myself as well for not screaming bloody murder. Around 1, I asked for the epi. And it came. James, the Epi man, and I became BFFs quickly! After that, I felt nothing - I thought the contractions had actually stopped. Nope. They were still going, but I was blissfully unaware! We tried to sleep, but I couldn't stop listening to the beautiful sound of the nurse came in to check me and give me a catheter. I was at 8cm by this point. She said she'd be back in an hour to check me again. Again, I tried to sleep, but sleep never came.

At 3:30, I started to feel pressure and contractions again. Oh no...the epi is wearing off. NURSE!!! The nurse came in, checked me and said "You're not feeling contractions...you're feeling the baby's head. I'm going to call your doctor. You get ready to have a baby."

I started pushing at 3:55 am. My doctor showed up almost right as I started pushing.

At 4:16 am, Natalie Lucille was placed on my belly, crying and being the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. She was 8 lbs on the nose and 20.75 in long. She has a full head of blond hair and clear blue eyes.

She nurses like a champ and knows who her mommy and daddy are. She's very mild mannered and laid back. We could not be more blessed. We brought her home today and can't believe the ride ahead.