Welcome to the World, Sarah Helen!

Monday morning, I was 38 weeks pregnant. I knew that she could come at any time, but I really had a feeling that she would stick out the whole 40 weeks at least. I wasn't having any labor symptoms. I even did my full 2 mile walk that morning. I went to the doctor that afternoon for my 38 week check-up, and they didn't even check to see if I was close. They just said to wait for any signs of labor to start.

Kelson was on duty that day, so I went to bed by myself. I was feeling rather uncomfortable but figured that was just par for the course being hugely pregnant. I woke up about 2:30 in the morning feeling even more yucky but still not like I was about to have a baby. However, within an hour I was having painful contractions every 2-3 minutes and decided I had better do something about it. I called the quarterdeck on Kelson's ship (he doesn't have cell reception in his room) and asked them to let my husband know that I was in labor. That sure made them move fast. Unfortunately, our only car was at home with me, so I had to drive to the base, which is fortunately very close to our house, and pick him up. As I was hurrying out the door, I tried to grab everything I would need. They aren't kidding when they say you should have your hospital bag all packed well ahead of time. I figured I would start labor slowly and have tons of time at home to make myself look presentable and pack all of the needed materials in the car. Wrong. Let's just say that when you are having contractions every two minutes it is very hard to concentrate on packing, and doing your hair and makeup are the last things on your mind. I see all these women who look perfect and put together in their labor photos. They must not have gone into labor in the middle of the night. I looked like a troll doll for the whole day. Oh well.

I finally got everything in the car and drove myself to the base (I also would not recommend operating a  motor vehicle while in active labor-not the best idea). Kelson got us to the hospital, and then we realized that we weren't really sure where the labor & delivery ward was. Oops. Should have thought of that before. We found it, checked in with the very uninterested desk clerks, and got into a triage room. My worst fear at this point was that they would say I wasn't in real labor and send me home. The good news was that I was already 5 cm dilated, so they admitted me right away.

I was hoping that once I got admitted I could have my epidural within a few minutes. Not so. They had to wait for my lab results to come back and check my platelets first. 2 1/2 hours of agony later, my labs came back and my platelets turned out to be really low, so low in fact that they were hesitant to give me the epidural. I opted to take the risk because by this time my contractions were only a minute or less apart and I am a wimp. The picture below was after my epidural finally kicked in and I no longer felt like dying. I went from a crying, miserable troll doll to a happy troll doll. It was a definite improvement.

 By the time they checked me an hour after I got my epidural, I was already 9 cm dilated. They broke my water, and then I read, slept, and generally relaxed while we waited for our lady to be ready to come. Epidurals are wonderful things. Since I was comfortable, we opted to let her progress on her own for as long as possible before I started pushing. That was lovely because I didn't have to spend 2 hours pushing. It only took about 40 minutes. We had one scary moment when her heart rate dropped and they thought her cord was around her neck. Doctors were rushing into the room, and I was generally freaking out. Luckily, it was a false alarm and she came back around just fine. After a little more pushing, our beautiful baby was born at 1:15 PM on Tuesday, November 5th.  Kelson, who was an awesome support through the whole day, cut the cord while they laid her on my tummy. I was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes, and it was definitely love at first sight for me. I can't believe that the little life I have been carrying around inside of me for so long is here staring up at me. It is a miracle.

 It turns out we needn't have been too worried about her, because she was the picture of health right from the beginning. She figured out how to eat within a few minutes of birth and was just generally perfect. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 8.6 ounces and was 19 inches long-just a little thing. 

 We got to snuggle for a long time before they took her away to do her bath, which they actually did in our room, so we never had to be separated from her. She wasn't a huge fan of the bath concept.

 She also refused to straighten out her feet (which are incredibly long), so she had rather crooked little footprints.

 After 11 hours of labor and three hours of stitching to repair the damage from delivery, having something to eat and drink, some pain medicine, and a perfect little baby in my arms was pretty much as wonderful as life could get.

Kelson was pretty much in love from the first too. He got broken in quickly when they left him alone with the baby for an hour while they took me to the O.R. to get stitched up.

 He made sure to share some his favorite things with her right from the beginning. 

 These included riesens and Welch's fruit snacks. What a good daddy.

I can't express how blessed we feel right now. This little person that we prayed and hoped for so long is here with us. We are parents. That is an incredible concept that hasn't quite sunk in yet. Thank you again for all of the prayers that helped bring us to this moment.