Arrival of Miss Eliot Jayne

Monday morning I woke up and was having contractions. They weren't very strong and were about 15 minutes apart. I continued about my business (grocery shopping, dyeing my hair, etc...) and noticed that throughout the day the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. By the time Tyler got home from work at 7 pm, The contractions were about 7 minutes apart. Tyler was thinking that maybe I was being just a bit too eager to have the baby and perhaps they would just stop (MEN!). At 8, I told him that I wanted to head to the hospital. He just put on his shoes and said he was ready. I asked if he wanted to grab a toothbrush or a change of clothes and he said he didn't because he was quite sure they were going to send us home.

By 9 pm we arrived at the hospital. I was dialated to a 5. I was really starting to hurt. I had a bit of a panic and started claiming I didn't want any more children. As they got stronger, I claimed I couldn't do it. As they got even stronger, I claimed I was going to die. Then, an angel from heaven showed up. Yes, her wonderful gift is sticking a huge needle into my back, but she took all the pain away. I think I'm going to add her to my list of people to buy Christmass presents for.

Meanwhile, in the sky, my mom was flying in from Denver. She was origianlly scheduled to arrive the day before my due date. I called her during the day and told her that I was thinking that I was going to probably deliver on Tuesday and perhaps she should schedule her flight for that morning. She decided so wisely that she should probably come in Monday night in case I went faster. Thank goodness she did so because she arrived in my room about an hour after I was admitted. She helped me through the contractions where I thought I was going to die and then she stayed up with me while the wonderful magic of numbness helped me to relax to a 9.

About an hour later I started pushing and an hour after that we had a beautiful baby girl. Tyler was such a wonderful help during the whole thing. One thing though, as I was being told to push, he started singing the Salt 'n Pepper song "Push It"... you know, the one that goes, "Push it, push it real good..." He had me laughing in the middle of my pushing and the nurse laughing in the middle of her counting and it was actually quite fun (thanks to the epidural).

It's all been such an experience. I love her sooo much. Tyler has been so wonderful and cute to watch with her. He is a master swaddler and diaper changer. I just don't know how I waited so long for her arrival.