Six days before Emma was born, my best friend had her little boy. I woke up on Sunday, October 11th with a text saying that Joseph Riley was here. I was so excited but so READY for my little one to enter the world. Right about that time, I just assumed I would be pregnant forever. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday passed really quickly. I decided to start my maternity leave on Thursday just so I could finish the last bit of nesting that I had in me. I went to the Dr on Thursday morning and I was STILL only 2 cm dilated. When you are at a 2 for a full month, you get a little disappointed hearing that again. Thursday passed and Friday day passed. Friday night Nick and I stayed up catching up on all of our shows. We knew that it might be our last Friday night with just the 2 of us, forever. We had her room ready, bags packed, etc. We were just waiting. I went downstairs for a minute to get a drink and started having contractions. They were different from the other ones that I had been having so I started timing them on Friday, October 16th at 11:58pm. Nick came downstairs about 10 minutes later to check on me and asked what I was doing and if I was ok. I guess you tend to check on your wives more often when they are very pregnant. :) I told him I was ok but that I was having contractions and that I started timing them. He kind of freaked out because I hadn't done this before. He started asking questions like how long are they, how frequent are they and do we need to go to the hospital.. I was so terrified of going to the hospital for false labor and being sent home so I decided I wanted to stay until I just knew it was time. We tried sleeping/relaxing but it's really not an easy task when you're contracting every 5 minutes. Around 5am, I was in a decent amount of pain but still wasn't ready to go. Nick ran a warm bath to help me relax and to help with the pain. By 8am I decided it was time. 8 hours into labor, I was ready to get to the hospital. Both families were contacted and were on their way to meet their granddaughter/niece, Emma. We got to the hospital around 8:15am, they hooked me up to the monitors to make sure I was in active labor and then they checked me to see where I was at. A 3..a stinkin 3. Really? 8 hours of active labor and I had only moved up 1 cm. The only thought that I had was "this is going to be a VERY long day." Another hour of contractions and the anesthesiologist came in for my epidural. The nurse checked me and I was already at a 7. :) They asked me to lean over the side of the bed and have Nick hold me up to make sure that I didn't fall while I was getting the epidural. If you know my husband, you know he can't stand needles. Have you ever seen an epidural needle? Needless to say, as I am laying on his chest I can feel his heart start beating super fast and he starts breathing heavily. The epidural is in and I look up at my husband to see he has lost all color. I ask him if he is ok and he tries acting like he is fine but he is not doing so well. The nurse looked over at him and asked if he needed to sit down. His first reaction was "No, I am fine" to almost immediately saying "Yes, I need to sit down." Poor guy, he did so well while it was happening but it finally hit him. By this time I was feeling good, Nick had his color back and the TX vs OU game was starting. We were able to relax and watch the whole game. Right before it was over the nurse came in and checked me one last time saying I was ready to push. Both families showed up right about the same time.. They waited in the waiting room while I started pushing. The nurse was getting everything prepped and I was telling her when I was having contractions. I couldn't feel the pain of them anymore but I could feel the tightening of my stomach. After about 30 minutes of pushing the nurse asked me to stop pushing if I could because I was going to deliver Emma before the Dr got there. :) As weird as this sounds to some, I never had the "urge" to push that you hear from a lot of people that have had babies. I never felt any pain, or even pressure.. I could just feel my stomach tighten. Maybe my anesthesiologist gave me the perfect epidural. Either way, I was okay with not pushing and it didn't bother me one bit. We waited for less then 5 minutes and made jokes about me only being able to think of food while I was pushing and then my Dr. showed up. 45 min total of pushing, waiting for the Dr and pushing again, Emma Brooklyn McElroy entered the world at 3:31pm weighing 8lbs 3.4oz.
Nick and I were amazed by how we both fell in love with something so tiny that we had only "officially" met within a matter of seconds. All we kept talking about was who she looked like and what features she had from him/me, etc. They finished up and left us alone with our sweet baby girl for a few minutes while the nurse went to get me food. While I was eating, I look up and see the man I love holding the most amazing thing that has ever happened to either of us. I teared up and took this picture with my phone..
So not only would I remember the feeling but I could share this with Emma when she gets older.
Her daddy is amazing and he loves her so very much.
Saturday, October 17, 2009, my due date, Emma was born. The perfect birth story for the perfect day.
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