The Arrival

A quick recap to get you up to speed...

Ashlei started going into labor around 6 pm on Monday the 4th, and her water broke around 9:00. We called the OB's answering service since it was after hours and got a quick callback with instructions to head to the hospital. We had prepared everything ahead of time: made a phone list of who to call and when, packed several bags with the things we thought we would need for a 2 day stay at the hospital, and Ashlei was already off of work. With all of the preparation, it still felt frantic from the excitement.

Thankfully the hospital is close to our house, and we were checked into a delivery room by 9:30 pm. After a quick initial exam it was pretty obvious that the baby was most definitely on its way. By 11:00 pm Ashlei was 8 cm dilated (she was 3cm at check-in), but in tremendous pain from virtually non-stop contractions. We didn't really take any visitors due to the constant contractions, other than parents poking their heads in as they arrived.

It was around 11:30 or so when Ashlei opted for an epidural, fearing she wouldn't having the energy to push when the time came. So many people say they want to deliver naturally, but my lesson from this is that there is no way you can proclaim that ahead of time, you just don't know how things are going to go. The epidural helped tremendously, and quickly turned the delivery room from a no-go zone into a lounge. Everyone was able to come in and hang out... yep, hang out. I have to admit, it was a bit odd to see everyone lounging around in the delivery room like it was a cocktail party while I watched contractions go by on the hospital monitors (Ashlei could feel them, but only enough so she knew they were happening, not so much that it even changed her mood). At some point, I'm not exactly sure when, the OB did an exam and told Ashlei it was time to start pushing.

The nurse did some quick preparations, and ran through the process (which, as good educated parents we already knew from our classes... more on the classes later). It would likely take 1 1/2 to 2 hours of pushing, and the baby would be delivered. So, Ashlei started pushing... having never given birth before, we relied on feedback from the nurse on how the pushing was progressing, which is where the epidural comes back into play. The nurse was giving feedback on things to do, but because of the epidural Ashlei couldn't really apply what she was saying to any specific muscular instructions... so we started a process of trial and error to find something that worked. After about an hour, nothing was working, and we started to consider turning off the epidural and letting it drain out Ashlei's system a bit so she had a little more control. That's when the nurse did another exam and found part of the amniotic sac had not fully ruptured and was blocking the baby from coming out. The OB came in and took care of that, and combined with the discovery of a pushing position that worked, pushing was finally working. After about half an hour, the nurse called in the OB for the final delivery.

Only those that have experienced the moments that follow can truly understand the emotions that come over you as you see your baby for the first time. She has blood all over, is covered in "the cheese" (vernix), and generally just looks weird... but at the same time is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.

I'm not a particularly emotional person, and actually pride myself on being able to be rational in most situations... but this was not one of those situations. As soon as Mia delivered, a wave of emotion that I cannot even explain came over me. I hugged and kissed Ashlei, and cried. I don't recall ever shedding tears of joy, and have never even truly understood their existence, but yet there I was... crying like a baby.