Happy Birthday! October 11, 2011

Tuesday shortly after writing my 38 week blog we got a call from the doctor. I could stop the 24 hour urine collection because.... my blood levels showed I had preeclampsia and I needed to head to the hospital to be induced! I called up Gabe at school and he headed for home. We were at the hospital by 1:30 and by 3:30 I had been checked in, assigned a room, given an IV and the medication to start labor was being given though the IV.

Here is one of the last pictures of me with Grace still in my belly!

Labor lasted a little over 7 hours. I made it about 3 hours before I desperately needed an epidural. Contractions do in fact really hurt! I learned that I am not a screamer, quite the opposite actually, I just cried! Getting the epidural did not hurt at all (compared to contractions it was like eating a piece of cake!) Once the epidural was in place I started to relax. The first hour of the epidural my dilation went from 5 to 8 cm. The doctor said epidurals can slow down labor, but for some women it actually speeds it up because the body can take a break and the uterus can do its job! I am glad I was a case of "speeding up labor!".

At 10:00pm I started pushing. The doctor came in, he was a riot! He would just sit back and watch and then make funny comments like "Wow that was a good one, I think she moved a millimeter!" I told him that I would prefer he told me things like "Oh my gosh! I think she moved half a football field!" He was entertained by us as well. =)

10:47pm and Grace was born! She was a beautiful and healthy baby girl! Here are some pictures of those first few hours!

First pictures with Mommy, yes this is right after she was born! She has a nice set of lungs on her. =)


6 lbs, 8 oz. One tiny bundle of love!
First picture with daddy! She has blonde eye lashes and eye brows so it almost looks like she has no hair, until you take that hat off! She has a LOT of hair on that head.Mimi, J-pa, and Uncle Taylor were all at the hospital for the whole labor process. They were so excited to meet our tiny Grace Jacklyn! We are so lucky to be blessed with this sweet girl. =)