Nova's Birth Day

Here's how it all went down:

Friday - lost my mucous plug

Saturday - started contracting around 3:30 p.m. We were out getting lunch and doing some shopping. The contractions were pretty painful, but in between them i felt completely fine, so we decided to stay out for a while to help pass the time. When we finally headed home i still wasn't completely sure what was going on. We worked around the house, and did some little projects. I was supposed to meet my friends in Honolulu for dinner Saturday night around 10:00, but when the time came I decided it might not be a good idea since the contractions were getting a little closer.

About 10:30 things started to pick up. It's funny, b/c i still wasn't totally sure if it was labor, just because i felt so good in between the contractions. I decided to try to get some sleep. We went to bed, but i couldn't really sleep, and around midnight i got in the tub for a while. I called L&D to see if it was busy or not. The absolute last thing i wanted to do was show up at L&D and be like 1 cm. I did NOT want to get sent home!!! They told me it was completely empty (a major rarity at Tripler!) and that i should come on in just to get checked. I still wasn't sure, so i thought i'd wait awhile.

Around 3:30 I decided we should go to the hospital. When I got there one of the midwives checked me and I was 3-4 cm/90% effaced/0 station. My Blood pressure was really high, so they decided to go ahead and admit me! Whooo-hoooo!!!!! This was IT FOR REAL!!!! It was finally sinking in.

Next came the epidural, which went fine. A little painful, but nothing too scary. It was an absolutely perect epidural. I could still move my legs, and feel some pressure with contractions, but no pain!! At 6 a.m they broke my water. At 8 a.m. i was 5 cm, and by 10 a.m. I was completely dilated!!! After managing so much dysfunctional and abnormal labor, i was compltely shocked that things progressed so quickly! My friend Tracy arrived at about 11:00 to help me push and deliver little Nova. I pushed for about 50 minutes, and out came sweet Nova!

It was AMAZING!!! the last few pushes were the most unbelievable moments ever. When her head finally delivered, it was unreal. Tracy put her right up on my chest, and i can't even describe that moment. I've put lots and lots of babies on their mama's chest, but i never imagined what it would feel like the second my own little sweet girl was placed on my chest. We tried breastfeeding right away, and she was actually able to latch on. The whole thing is still so surreal to me. I'm not much of an overly emotional or sentimental person, and it totally shocked me how emotional the whole thing was.

So, that's pretty much the story of Nova's entry to the world.

Here are some more pics of our girl!

big smile = awesome epidural!