L.O.V.E.

It was a long nine months, but the two extra weeks we had to wait to meet our daughter seemed even longer, and this blog will probably be the longest yet! Each day that passed during the first week I went overdue I thought to myself ‘today’s the day!’ and when the second week arrived, I came to the realization that our love was going to dwell in my womb for the rest of her life. Thankfully I was wrong.
Since my uterus still wasn’t dilated, my doctors decided that it would be best to reschedule my induction date if I wanted the best chance of having a vaginal delivery– so that’s exactly what we did. I was scheduled to be induced with pitocin Sunday evening at 7:30, and when I woke up Sunday morning at 3am with some cramping I had some high hopes, but forced myself to go back to bed and convinced myself that it was just Braxton hicks—which I was excited about having nonetheless—at least my body was doing something! So later in the day when 3pm rolled around and I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart I couldn’t believe it! Leave it to Avalina to literally wait until the last minute to come! (Does this foreshadow that she will forever be a procrastinator?) So there I was anxiously timing my contractions, getting more and more excited with each passing one. When 7:00 rolled around we left the house and head to the hospital to meet our destiny.
After the nurse was finished setting me up to be induced she checked my uterus and informed me that I was 2 cm dilated, and affirmed that I was in deed having contractions! Woo Hoo!! The doctor decided that I did not need pitocin! Awesomeee! 2 hours later I was 5cm dilated. 2 hours after that they broke my water—which was not as exciting as I thought it would be had it happened on its own. After they broke my water, the very next contraction I had was so intense I vomited. Yup. It was awesome lol. An hour after that I was 8.5cm!! So the nurse informed us that it wouldn’t be too much longer and for me to page her when I felt the urge to push!! Deep Breath. The time had come and I couldn’t have been more ecstatic, although I wasn’t able to properly show my enthusiasm because my contractions were so powerful!! They had been SO close together, I literally couldn’t catch a break, the nurse said the monitor made it look like I had been given the pitocin! Oye. So three hours later the nurse came back in. Shocked- I was STILL 8.5cm. ugh how annoying! How much more of this could I take?? The doctor patiently discussed that I should consider getting an epidural so my body would have a chance to relax and do its thing. Worn out and exhausted, I wasn’t even able to articulate to him that I wanted to avoid the epidural like the plague. 20 minutes later they gave me pitocin to try to help move it along. . .and a half hour after that a new doctor (I don’t even know where she came from—must have been a shift change—but I am glad she didn’t deliver me) came in to check on me, and after telling us that I wasn’t quite ready yet, she left the room. As she was walking out the nurse asked if I should try pushing anyway, the doctor gave a hasty nod and proceeded out the doorway. So there we were. About to push. Alex—being the inquisitive fellow that he is—asked how long the pushing phase will last; the nurse informed us that first time moms usually take 1-3 hours! She also told us that after three hours if the baby still wasn’t out, that they would perform a c-section. Well then let’s get this baby out, I said!
Determined and ready, I started to push. 10 minutes and three contractions later the nurse gave me the red light and told me to stop pushing! The baby was almost out! She quickly paged the doctor, when the doctor—the one I had come to know and love-- arrived 5 minutes later he was beyond stunned—which pretty much summed up the feelings in the room! One more little push from me, and the room was filled with the sound of Avalina’s cry, and the unconditional love from her mother and father. She was born at December 27, 2010 at 8:30am, 20 inches long, and 8 pounds 14 ounces of joy. I loved her before I met her, but meeting her was the greatest happiness of my life.