Childbirth

The whole child birth experience was great. I was so fortunate to have an easy delivery and no pain really. I was really scared going into the hospital not knowing what to expect but knowing that this was it after 40 weeks of build up. For those of you who don't know, I'm terrified of needles. I cried when they placed the IV. Nick held my hand and tried to calm me down. I was told I could have an epidural as soon as I wanted it. After the first contraction, I requested it. There was really no reason for me not to since it was inevitable and there's no point in having pain when I don't have to. The numbing part of the epidural was the worst. All in all things were not as big of a deal as I expected. At 3:30 I began pushing and Ramona arrived at 4:12. It would have been sooner, but we had to wait for Dr. Robbins to show up.

When Dr. Robbins held Ramona out, everyone in the room dropped their jaw. (And by everyone I mean everyone - 3 NICU nurses, Dr. Robbins and the 2 nurses helping her, Nick, my mom, his mom, and my sister Alicia) Not only was she probably the cutest baby they'd ever seen :) but no one expected to see such a big baby! She was 8 lbs 8 oz and completely beautiful. Since she had meconium in utero, the NICU had to clean and suction her up immediately. I didn't get to hold her for what seemed like forever but was probably somewhere around 20 minutes. I was glad they didn't take her out of the room, so I was still able to see her. It is amazing to finally have her here and in my arms. I didn't want to give her back to the nurses for her bath!

I am finding out the downside of childbirth and that's the recovery. Since there is no longer that amazing thing referred to as an epidural, I am in lots of pain. It's difficult to get up and down and well just around even just pulling myself up in bed. I am walking like an old women. However I can say it is totally worth it a million times over.

Ramona has blue eyes (for now) and a full head of dark hair which come as a surprise to both of us. We can't even put into words how much we love this precious little girl.