A Girl in a HURRY!

Brooklyn RuddJanuary 18, 2008, 9:38 am7 lbs 1 oz, 20 in

Hello everyone! We just made it home from the hospital and Brooklyn and I are doing great. Here is the report of our wonderful and crazy weekend...

We checked into the hospital at 5:30 am, signed all the paperwork, got all settled, and they started my iv of antibiotics and fluids at 6:30. The doctor decided to go ahead and start pitocin and break my water at 7:30. He said that they would do another round of antibiotics at 10:00 and then she may be ready to deliver by lunch time. :) When he broke my water he said I was between a 3-4. I was surprised that I didn't start contracting until about 8:10 or so. At about 10 to nine I decided that the contractions were strong enough for me and asked if we could start preparing me for the epidural. I joked about being a big baby and honestly, the contractions were still "bearable" (Now for those boys reading this - don't think that means they didn't hurt really bad! :), but as long as I was getting an epidural, why deal with the pain, right? So, they got me ready and the anesthesiologist came in at about 9:10. They sat me up to do the epidural and the contractions got a little stronger. I remember commenting to Adam that even though I said I might want to try a delivery without an epidural some day, I didn't! Anyway, they got the epidural inserted, but hadn't hooked it to the pump with the drugs yet, when I started feeling the urge to push. The nurse checked me, did the much feared shocked face, and called for the doctor! I was completely dialated and her head was crowning! The anesthesiologist gave me a small "test dose" (the amount they start off with to make sure your body reacts okay) and apologized profusely! The doctor ran in and told me it was time to start pushing. I was terrified! We laugh now, because the last thing I did was look at Adam and say, "I don't want to feel this!!" My sweet doctor just said, "I know honey, but once you get her out the pain will go away." So, 3 pushes later - she was here! My legs started to tingle about 5 minutes after she arrived - so at least the "test dose" took the edge off while the doctor did one little stitch. :) Wow, talk about a crazy experience! Now that it is over, I can say that I am glad to have had the chance to have a "natural" delivery! (How can they even say that - nothing about delivering a baby feels "natural"!) I am pretty proud to say I survived! From first contraction to delivery was only about 1 hr and 20 min and after all that I didn't even end up with one full round of antibiotics! Luckily though, Brooklyn has a clean bill of health, and I feel fantastic! I don't know if it was the short delivery or no episiotomy, or probably both, but this recovery has been great!

Here are some more pictures of our sweet little Brooklyn...

 

 

Anyway, we are thrilled to have our beautiful little girl here and Cameron is so excited about his "baby sister!" What a great weekend!