What a Miracle!

E at 6 days old! What a cute hat I got from my friend Barbara!

I have been a little busy this week so I haven't had a chance to sit and write about the miracle of Little Miss E's birth. I'll try to condense this so you don't have to read a novel! (Sorry, it's still pretty long!)

Last Monday I was feeling very "over" being pregnant. When our work party was at the bowling alley I figured I would do my best to speed things along! I bowled two games, much to everyone's surprise, and was exhausted by the end of the evening. I then went home and cleaned a little and then went to bed, hoping for some big occurrence that night. Nothing happened so I went to work the next day as planned.
At work on Tuesday I was super tired and sore from my exercise the day before, but I worked nonetheless. I had a doctor appointment that afternoon and found out that I had progressed to a 2 and was 80% effaced. I was so excited that I had finally changed from a 1! The doctor also told me that I could go in the next day and he would strip my membranes. After the appointment I was pretty sore and started having some consistent, hard contractions. I went back to school to work on my sub plans for a few more hours. I figured I had one more day so I left a few things undone. Steve picked me up and we went to a Mexican restaurant and then to the grocery store.
When we got home my contractions got harder and harder. By the time we went to bed at 8 I was very uncomfortable. I finally got up and called labor and delivery because the contractions were 5-8 minutes apart. They told me to wait until they were 3-5 minutes apart. This made me cry because I felt so yucky! I took Tylenol, drank lots of water, took a bath, and tried to lay down again. For the next few hours I timed and breathed through some very painful contractions! Finally at 12:30 Steve asked how far apart they were. When I told him 4-5 minutes he said, "Okay let's go!" It reminded me of a movie: we were running around the house throwing things into our bag and the car.
I was breathing the best I could through every contraction on the ride down. Steve really wanted me to be freaking out or something so he could race to the hospital : ). Unfortunately for him I was very calm.
When we got into the hospital they made me change into a gown and then they checked me. I was at a 3 and 90% effaced. I then had to wait an hour to see if I had changed. After waiting that excruciating hour nothing had happened. They asked if I wanted to go home with pain pills or stay and walk for an hour...I chose to stay (any girl who would go home cannot be in true labor!). I tried walking but after half an hour I was in so much pain I asked if I could be checked again. Lucky for me I had progressed enough for the doctor to admit me.
At this point everything moved very quickly. They moved me into a Labor and Delivery room and called the anesthesiologist. He got my epidural in by about 4 and then they let me rest until I progressed enough to push. My water broke on its own at about 5:45 and then my self medicating epidural stopped working at about 7 or so. The nurse came in and found that it hadn't even been turned on so she got that fixed for me...thank heavens!!! My sister got there at about 8, the same time as my doctor. I was progressing pretty fast at that point and by 9 I was ready to start pushing. My sister and Steve were in the room and were able to help me hold my legs. I pushed through just about every contraction for 50 minutes.
By the time E's head really crowned I was on a roll. The nurse went and got the doctor. I pushed about 2 more times and she was out at 9:54! It was such a miraculous experience to be able to birth a child. The feelings are indescribable! I was so lucky to have such amazing coaches...thanks Michelle and Steve!!!
We were able to come home on Friday and things have been going fairly well since then. E is learning how to sleep at night, which is a challenge for all of us. The last two nights have been better, however, and mom, dad, and baby are all happier for it. Yesterday E lost her cord stump, which was an exciting milestone. Daddy was very excited to give her a real bath.
Sadly for me, my mom left yesterday. I so appreciated the help she gave me this last week. She was my saving grace, as Steve was at work all day. My mom is the best...she is an angel! Thank you so much mom, and know that you are welcome here at any time!!!
Wow, what a whirlwind week!!! Hopefully I will be able to get some more good pictures on soon, but until then you can look at my Mom and Dad's blog (link is to the right) for some good ones.

Thanks for all of the messages and texts and calls. I have so appreciated the love and support of all of my friends and family!!!