At 11:50, the doctor came in and checked me, still fully dilated and at a +2 station. The nurses began setting up for delivery, and I started crying again out of happiness and anticipation. So once they were all set up, we began to watch my contractions on the monitor, since I really couldn't feel them. I began to feel pressure to push, though, and once that came, they told me to start! I pushed 3 times to each contraction, in between being completely chatty and excited, catching my breath, and while I pushed, I could hear my husband and everyone else saying, "Look at that hair!" and "You're almost there, just a few more pushes!" I could see in the mirror her crowning, but it didn't really seem like I was that close. But I knew I was, however, when the doctor moved the mirror out of the way, put on his face guard, and draped the plastic sheet over my chest (the "landing pad," he called it). On my fourth contraction, I really could feel her head coming out, but I didn't feel any pain, just kind of a burning pressure that I pushed straight through. And I knew that once that burning pressure was gone that her head was out. I could hear all the commotion in the room, everyone exclaiming and talking, but I couldn't make out their words. I pushed once more to get her shoulders out, and then, in a flash, at 12:23 in the afternoon, I felt my daughter's body exit mine and she was placed, like a slippery fish, onto my chest. It was completely surreal, one moment she was inside me, the next, she was on my belly, purpley-white, warm, wet, and crying in big gulps. I could do nothing but cry myself; she was finally here! I remember my husband's first reaction, "Look at her fingernails!" and the reactions of everyone else on her long fingers and big feet, and all her dark hair.
They left her with me for a pretty long time before taking her to be cleaned. While she was with me, the doctor stitched up the tear in my perineum, which was about an inch long. She was perfect and healthy, 7 lbs., 14 oz., and 21 inches long. We named her Kya Elannon.
We were moved to a recovery room that evening, and my recovery went really well. The first thing I wanted to do when we got to the new room was take a shower! But during my two days in the hospital, I was up and about, not really in any pain, getting some rest, and feeling about as normal as I could!
I would have to say that my experience with birth was a very good one. A quick labor, although the epidural was really my ticket in the end, and fifteen minutes of pushing, and a basically painless recovery. Yes, I plan on doing it again, and I can only hope next time will be just as easy and enjoyable!
Jenn
