Labor of Love

Thanks to my good friend Leah, you all were quickly informed of Avery's arrival (thanks Auntie Leelee!). I wanted to share our story though, of the day that changed our lives forever....

I woke up around 1:00am having contractions, thinking "this could be it." Being the wonderful wife that I am, I let Shayne sleep until 2:00...just in case I was wrong. After waking Shayne, we started to time the contractions. They were 2-5 minutes apart, lasting anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute long. That was good enough reason to call.
We arrived at the hospital around 4:00am and I was already at 7 centimeters. Waiting for the epidural seemed like an eternity! And the actual epidural was an eternity as well...they stuck me 3 times! Shayne was trying his hardest to bite his tongue at that point, being they were not getting "the right spot" on my spine! I, however, was just a nervous wreck thinking my epidural was not going to work. Third time was the charm, praise the Lord...I was much appreciative...



About 8:00am, I was dilated at 9 centimeters, so the doctor went ahead and broke my water. I started to feel some pressure, although nothing like the contractions. The doctor checked me at 9:30am and suggested I go ahead and begin to push...Shayne, Avery & myself must've made a good team, because she was out at 10:08am! They immediately laid our beautiful baby on my chest, which she then proceeded to raise her head and look around. She also had her first poop right on me...that was the first time I could've cared less about poop (which is good because I know there's many more to come).

Words cannot describe the experience and the feelings that rushed over me when our baby girl entered this world. I instantly knew that my lifelong dream of becoming a mother was moving above and beyond my expectations...and will continue to do so as we continue our lives as a new family.