Ok, this is totally ripped off from emails I sent, but it is the whole story about her birth, so I'll just paste what I already wrote instead of reinventing the wheel:

We're home and pooped, but figuring it out as we go. She's now eating like a champ and even keeping some of it down. hahaha! It's disturbing, but I guess normal when they barf it up sometimes. No pictures of that fortunately. ;)

I didn't include the C-section pics on the picture page, but if you want to see the gory details, just email and I'll send you the link to those. Marti took 2 pictures over the curtain and then had to sit down. hahaha!!!

As for labor - that was AWFUL!!!! I started contractions at about 12:30 AM Thursday (Wednesday night) and went to the hospital around 7:30 PM Thursday because I thought my water broke. Well, it didn't quite break like in the movies, so I wasn't sure, but I have a "condition" (GBS) and I needed to have antibiotics if it did break, so we went in to play it safe. My contractions were still not regular or close enough to be in the hospital, but with the GBS, they took me in and hooked me up to an IV anyway.

The nurse said I wasn't really dilated much, but with some manual manipulation, she got that process started and got me from 1 to 3 in about 5 seconds. Um, OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! (But thanks for not just sending me home, too!)

About 2 AM I finally got an epidural and that basically stopped labor for all intents and purposes and then we started up again a few hours later. Still, my contractions were not regular or close enough, but I was making some progress, albeit slow progress. They gave me Pitocin to try to help, but had to keep turning it off because it looked like it was stressing the baby. It took HOURS to go from 5 cm to 6 cm!!!! My doctor was recommending a C-section but I didn't want that, so we continued with close monitoring of me and the baby.

Finally at about 3 PM on Friday, I'd reached the magic 10 cm and was allowed to push. Apparently I was pushing well according to the doctor and nurse (although I couldn't feel a THING!). However, the baby would not budge an inch. Well, not like they measure downward movement in inches, but you get the picture.

After close to an hour and a half of pushing, she still had not changed her position and her heart rate looked like it was a little elevated, although still within a safe range. It was time to give up and go into surgery. At 4:30 PM I stopped pushing and she was born via C-section at 4:49 PM!

Had I known then what I know now... hahaha!!! But, hindsight is 20/20, as they say. It was weird to feel all their work as they took her out, yet not really feel a lot of pain. I was given about every drug in the book, but still felt somewhat lucid and did feel a little pain as they tugged and pushed her out. THAT was really weird! Plus, when we got in there and the curtain went up, I looked up at the big light and could see pretty well perfectly a reflection of what they were doing!!!! Mental note to self: DON'T LOOK UP!!!!!! hahaha!!!!

I guess that's pretty much how it all happened. It's good to be home and figuring out how to be parents instead of in the hospital getting poked and prodded every 20 minutes or so. :) Don't get me wrong: we got lots of help and the care was great!!! But it was a little disorienting to not go outside for days, not sleep except for in short stretches for days on end, and to have someone come in to check me or the baby for something every few minutes or so. (OK, so it wasn't really that often, but it seemed like it!)

Like I said, it's good to be home! It was murder just trying to find time to pick up the phone to call anyone while we were there. I honestly just called my grandmother Wednesday!!!! My mom called her for me from the recovery room, but I didn't speak to her at that time. Then I forgot if I even called my dad in CA at all! He assured me that I did, but I don't recall the conversation on delivery day. (Must have been the drugs!)

Marti has been a doll taking care of me, the baby, and running home to take care of the dogs and clean up the house while I was still stuck in the hospital. I don't know how those single moms do it on their own. He just made me something to eat, so I'm going to go eat like a good little patient now. :)