On Saturday, January 3rd, I went for a walk with my sister Dee and Eric. I hadn't walked in almost a month because I was too big and uncomfortable. But, I felt like walking on this day because I wanted to go into labor as close to my due date (January 6th) as possible. I'm a scheduler after all.
Little did I know that this walk would initiate labor just a few hrs later.
At 4am on Sunday, January 4th, I started having contractions. Eric and I wanted to stay at home as long as possible before going to the hospital, so we finally left the house at 4pm on Sunday when my contractions were about 5 mins apart and pretty darn strong.
I was dilated to 5 cm when we arrived at the hospital and was told that our little girl would probably arrive before midnight.
By the time I finally got an epidural a few hrs later, I was already dilated to 8 cm. Within 30 minutes, I was 10 cm dilated and Maddie was ready to make her debut. Unfortunately, I could not feel anything at all so I had a hard time working with the contractions.
After 2 hrs of hard work, some barfing, minor asthma attacks and a lot anxiety, Madelyn arrived. According to the doctor and nurses, she handled my pushing like a rock star and looked like a movie star minutes after birth.
Our lives haven't been the same since. In spite of sleepless nights, Maddie is the best gift we've ever received.
