Dear Lorelai,
There are so many things that I could say regarding what labor is like but everyone has a story to share and none of the stories really help to calm the nerves or explain how and the other person is labor is like.
We were scheduled to be induced at 5 p.m. the day before your birthday however because of the busy Hospital schedule it was pushed back to 10 p.m. start time. When we arrived your dad and I were more excited than nervous. After getting all settled in we started medication to induce labor. I'd been having contractions for about 8 hours prior, but nothing very painful so it was hard to say when you would ever arrive or--if those contractions would result in labor.
First of all, contractions really suck. Yes, they started out pretty easy and I wondered if that's really what it was for a number of hours...but they get worse. By the time the morning hit I was in crazy amounts of pain and the doctor went through a number of other methods to try and get me to dilate. We went in at zero and didn't reach the required 4 centimeters for an epidural until about 1 p.m. the following day.
Let me just say epidurals are the most amazing thing ever. I had not intended on a natural birth going in, but had wanted to wait on an epidural as long as possible. In reality I got one immediately when I could. I have come very close to telling my nurses I simply could not do anything more and they would have to cut me open to get you out. My philosophy on epidurals going in was I've never heard anyone say they regretted getting one so why would I think that my labor would be any different. I wanted to put it off simply because chances of C-sections can be higher when starting an epidural because it can slow labor.
I said everything that people say will come to your mind during labor including "I am never doing this again". Your dad was quite a champ, I know it was really hard for him to see me in pain and not be able to make it go away, but he did everything he could to help.
Like I said epidurals are magical. I found out later my sister and her friends all laughed because each one of them sent a text to each other saying epidurals are amazing when they each had their first baby this past year. I sent my sister a similar text upon receiving mine. I mean, I felt zero contractions after that and it was the best thing ever. They could charge a million dollars a pop for one of those (and probably do when I get the bill) and I would still pay it.
It was later that evening as things progressed enough to start pushing. We started pushing you around 9 and you arrived at 10:10 that evening. Prior to getting pregnant I assumed pushing was the hard part, not for me. I could have kept pushing much longer, but it was those darn contractions that had me ready to give up on you ever having a sibling (mind you, I still very much feel that way despite many mothers telling me I will forget the pain)
All in all, my labor story seenes incredibly easy compared to some of the stories of my friends. The following day I was feeling very little pain and my overall recovery is going great to date (you're now 5 days old)
Of course, when I first held you I bawled. The only thing I could do was kept asking your dad what you looked like because you were so balled up on my chest, and I was still laying on my back that I couldn't see your face. He didn't know what to say because he couldn't described how perfect you were.
It was a long day, but truly the best day of my life.
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