Sylvie's Here!

Oh boy, where does the time go?? Oh, right . . . it's gone away in a blur of bleary-eyed nighttime feedings, in 3,000 diaper changes (for the newborn and the 2 year old), and in just trying to keep afloat running a family of seven. I've decided that I love 9:00 a.m. church (we just switched) because now there are wide open Sunday afternoons, during which I really really hope to catch up on blogging. Yeah, right, you're thinking, I've heard that story before. Oh well, better late than never, right???

So, my due date was Nov. 15th, and I was really nervous because Mayo does not believe in inducing labor early unless there is a medical reason. I've been induced with my last two labors because I dilated to a 6 with Brigham (with no contractions) a week early, and to a 4 with Hudson a week early. Both doctors induced me so that I didn't go into labor on my own and have the baby on the living room floor. I figured that should be medical enough reason for Mayo, but not so.
Three weeks before I was due, I was dilated to a 1, then the next week I was dilated to almost a 5. My mom got here on Nov. 6th, our fridge and freezer were stocked, baby clothes were washed, bags were packed. We were ready. On Monday night, Nov. 8th, I felt completely trashed. I remember crying to Chris, telling him I was so tired of being pregnant, and I was so nervous about going into labor on my own and not having time to get an epidural (I know, I know, I really like those drugs!). We went to bed, and I had a dream about trying to do my math homework but I couldn't because my stomach hurt. It woke me up at 1:00 a.m. and I had three more contractions in 20 minutes, so I woke up Chris. We got things together and left for the hospital at around 2:00 a.m. Luckily it only takes about 5 minutes to get downtown. Chris stopped at a stoplight, and that was the closest I got to yelling when I told him to "Go!"
I so wanted an epidural, and that was the first thing I asked about when I got in my hospital bed. I got the worst of both worlds, because as everyone knows, it's no fun to get a giant needle in your spine. Having to stay still while feeling contractions in the front and a needle jabbing me in the back was not so easy! They gave me a spinal/epidural combo, because a spinal kicks in faster. But in this case, it was not fast enough. My worst fears were coming true! The spinal did take the edge off a few contractions, but I felt everything when I was pushing. I'm not going to lie - it was awful!
But then she was here, and although all that pain was not forgotten, it was definitely worth it. Sylvie Saundra was born on Tuesday, November 9th at 3:41 a.m.