Elijah is here!

Everyone knows that I was scheduled for induction yesterday. Luckily everything went very well.

After arriving late we were brought into the room and filled out all of our paperwork. We then waited for shift change before I was started on pitocin. I was very lucky to have a wonderful nurse, Donna. She was very friendly and supportive. She informed me of everything that was going on and made sure I was ok every step of the way. I'm very thankful for her.

I was started on an IV around 8.00 (I think) and waited patiently for contractions to begin. It didn't take long. Compared to Ethan's delivery my pitocin was increased very often. As soon as I had contractions at one intensity for a little while, the dosage was increased and we would get stronger, faster contractions. I did very well for a good while, but they really started to hurt about the time I was dilated to a 5. I knew that I would not be able to make it all the way without drugs so I requested my friend, Mr. Epidural.

Once I received the epidural I was good to go. After about 30 minutes I wasn't feeling anything from the waist down and I was able to nap for a while. Donna checked my progress every so often and made sure I was comfortable. Comfortable being that I had my share of ice chips since I was starving! A little before 5 Donna checked me and said that it was time: I was fully dilated and everything was good to go. And this next thing helped me tremendously: she called the doctor and told her I was only a nine and that she needed to be coming over. I know that sounds off kilter, but it gave me a chance to feel some pressure during contractions so I would know when to push. When I had felt several contractions and knew that Elijah was close I called Donna and told her that they needed to get in the room...I was ready. We waited on the doctor to arrive, they suited up and broke down the bed and it was time. I was reminded how to push and we were going. The first push didn't seem to help my situation at all, but I made the next four count. After the fifth push Elijah was working his way out and I just had to give a couple of gentle nudges to get him out.

He was born at 5.22pm and weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces. He is 22.5 inches long with a head full of light colored hair. He is just perfect and Ronnie, Ethan and I couldn't be happier to have him join our little family. Thanks for all the prayers and support.