Honey, It's Time...

So, here we are arriving at WakeMed hospital. Notice the smile on my face at this point. So, we went in to triage to be checked to see if I was a "keeper". The DR said I was already about 4.5 cm dilated, so I was staying. YEAH!! This was really it.
So, here I am calling my parents. It's time to start the long drive; little Drew is coming soon.





I am now admitted to the hospital, and this is our labor and delivery room. This will be our "home" for the next several hours and the place where Drew will enter the world. Still notice the smile on my face.
As you know, Tim likes to take pictures of everything, so here is his new badge, once we were admitted to L&D.






So, here is a contraction. YEAH - THEY HURT!!! Where is the anesthesiologist?? Contractions are painful at any point, but when you are almost 6cm dilated before you get an epidural, it is NOT fun! They teach you in L&D class to breathe, just breathe. Well, I'm trying my best, but it's a little difficult!
Here is a picture of the monitor. The higher the line and longer it stays high before dropping, the worse it is. This was probably one of the worst contractions that I had to feel.
AH, that one is over - for now - and we take time for a picture.
I have found a new best friend!!!! Epidurals are AMAZING!!! Absolutely NO pain after this point. It was smooth sailing. Tim and I both were able to sleep for several hours after I got this.





It was now morning on Sept 21st, and we are still waiting. I was about 10 cm at this point, but we were waiting on a DR to come by to confirm and begin the delivery process. Unfortunately, DRs make rounds in the morning and since I was feeling no pain, we got to sit around and wait for 2 more hours. It actually became quite boring. I was ready, Drew was ready, it was "GO Time", but the DR wasn't ready. So, we wait. Yeah, fun thing I learned about labor and epidurals, they tend to make some people swell. Really, would have never guessed :).


About 10:30am, we started the delivery process, but little Drew just couldn't get out. So, I ended up having to have a C-section. Hey, at least C-section babies come out with prettier shaped heads. So, after the C-section, I went to recovery for a few hours, and Drew went to have his first checkup. We were all doing fine. We were then moved into our postpartum room, where we would stay for the next several days.


Here's a picture of us in our room. I look pretty beat up, but I think Tim looks pretty cute in his scrubs from my surgery. Funny thing is right before I went into surgery, I saw Tim in his scrubs, and I kept talking about how cute he was. He said you're going into surgery, and you're talking about me being cute - too funny.