She's Born (I Promise!)

Re-cap: I showed up at the hospital at 6am for an induction and got an (heavenly) epidural at about 11.
I had been slowly progressing (centimeter-wise) until about 3pm.  I was at 8cm (out of 10) but my body stopped.  My doctor sat down to talk with me.  I had stalled for a little over an hour at this point.  He explained that stalling isn't a bad thing, in fact normally it's no big deal-except that I was already at 8cm.  My body was practically ready to go and just stopped, kinda sudden like.  In his experience, when that happens it's usually because something is wrong and your body wants it to be right before the baby comes out (i.e. the cord is wrapped around the baby).
We went over my family history again and he decided to give it more time (going 'by the book' would call for a c-section).  He gave me an hour.
45 minutes into that hour I was at 9cm, then 10.
At this point I'd like to say that not all epidurals are created equal.  It would be nice, but I understand that there are lots of variables.  You are, after all, sticking a giant needle into someone's spine-it's not exact.  But combine that with the leaking (meds going onto my bed instead of in my back) and the epidural didn't help much when it came to the pushing.
I was not a fan of the pushing.
I asked John how long it took-he said hours.
I'm guessing two hours.

Two Hours.

I don't know how long other ladies push, but 2 hours is not cool.
If you pushed longer than that then you should probably be exalted right now.

In all the haze I do (vaguely) remember an odd conversation I had round about that time.
My mom, trying to lighten the mood, points out that this is what I always want, right-being center stage?
I made some comment about not remembering the audition and wanting to switch parts with somebody.  When no one took me up on the offer I asked if I could read the script, as I didn't seem to have one.
The doctor got a kick out of it.
Sometimes I wonder what kinds of things people usually say when they're in labor.
I chose to have the mirror up and even had someone put a towel over the tv because I could see myself in the reflection.  I didn't say it, but I remember when I was asked if I wanted the mirror down (so I could watch her come out) my shocked brain spat "I've got to feel this and you want me to see it too?!".  (For the record "it" refers to the pain, not my daughter!)  Funny, though, the moment the doctor said he could see her my whole head shot up, looking for that mirror (or really, a glimpse of my daughter).  Thankfully a wise hand carefully angled the mirror just as I looked up.

Now, we learn in anatomy (and sometimes in family and child development classes) that the largest shot of oxytocin a woman will get is released just as her baby is born.  I can attest that that is true (at least the first time around).  I could tell you the exact moment when it came.  A chemical switch flipped and extreme pain became extreme joy.
I thought I would want my little one to be cleaned up a bit before I got her.  Work that hard and she might as well be cute, right?  With that switch it didn't matter.  I found myself reaching down, calling out "my baby!".  It didn't matter what she looked like and frankly, I don't remember.  What mattered was that we were each exactly where we were supposed to be.

Friday, July 13th.  7:20pm (ish).  7lbs 14oz of sweetness.

I have to admit, come about 7pm we thought it would be really fun to have the numbers line up.
date: 7/13, time: 7:13, weight: 7lbs 13oz.
We were close.

Oh-another shout out to the awesomeness of my doctor.  My mom told me this bit after the fact (since I was a little distracted at the time).
When Babe's head came out the cord was wrapped around her neck (she was okay, perhaps because her hand was stuck between her neck and the cord).  One of the nurses started to tell me, but the doctor very quickly stopped her.  He smoothly unwrapped it, checked her and encouraged me to keep pushing.
So, two things.  First, remember when I stalled at 8cm?  Well, looks like that was probably why.  And second, can you imagine the panic I would go into if I knew that the cord was around her neck?  She wasn't even out of me yet, I needed to finish what I was doing and they needed to make sure she was okay before I was given news like that.
I love my doctor.  Smart, compassionate, good sense of humor-the guy is awesome:)

One last factoid before we close the story-both Babe and Gideon were born on Friday the 13th.
I'm feeling pretty lucky.
Pretty blessed.