Meeting Scarlett June Hammond...

Heidi and I. My nurse.

So happy after getting my epidural.

She came out sunny side up so she had a pretty good molded bump on her forehead that you can see in the picture below. It was gone in a few hours though and her head is perfectly round and cute now.

My doctor. Michelle Montville.

The story... WARNING: if you do not wish to read about cervixs and such then skip this part. I started in with contractions on Sunday the 14th at about 4pm. I wasn't sure they were the real thing though since I had had several episodes of painful contractions for the previous two weeks. So I went for a walk with Morgan. I was still contracting after the walk. I took a bath and Evers hopped in. I continued to contract. Everett poured water over my belly with his watering can and told me he was washing the belly. I asked him about the baby in the belly and he proceeded to point at my belly and say "baby calf". I tried to explain this one wouldn't say mooooo. We headed into town to pick up Alexa from Mom's house and I was still contracting so we packed a few things just in case. At Mom's house we ate some dinner. I continued to breath through contractions. I went to the bathroom at one point and had some bloody show. When that happened I was pretty sure we must be headed in the right direction so we started to plan for our little girl. We realized we had forgotten the camera at home so we left Evers with Mom and headed back to our house for the cameras. Can't have a baby without them!! We made it to the hospital at about 7:45 or 8:00. I was still contracting and they were more intense. I was, however, thoroughly disappointed when my cervix had fully effaced but hadn't dilated any more. Grrrrrr. So my hour of waiting and contracting began. When you come in contracting you wait an hour and get rechecked to determine if the contractions are true labor contractions and strong enough to change the cervix. By the end of this hour I was defenitely uncomfortable and they were increasing more and more in intensity but my cervix still hadn't changed. I had a tight band that would not let go. This time when my nurse, Heidi, checked me she stretched at my cervix a little to try and break past that band. This is the most excruciating thing I have ever had done. I was officially in a whole lot of pain from here on out. Keep in mind I couldn't be technically admitted until I was in labor which is defined at changing the cervix. Also keep in mind I had no interest in doing any of this with out an epidural. So I went walking which was a challenge to say the least and then reached a point where walking was no longer an option. Clint and I quickly made our way back to the triage room stopping to contract and breath along the way. I made it back to bed and was in so much pain I was ready to split in half. I kept telling Clint it wasn't fair...I never had any desire to do this natural and my stupid cervix was not cooperating. I was rechecked and my cervix still was the same! I couldn't believe it! At this point it felt hopeless to me and I started to cry. I was hurting so bad with the contractions. Clint was there by my side but didn't know what to do to help...and there wasn't anything he could do. I told Heidi I couldn't do it anymore and I couldn't go home like this. She called the doc that was on call since she couldn't get a hold of my doc and he admitted me and said I could have an epidural. Pure joy! It was nearly midnight by now. I was wheeled down the hall, IV started on me, and Dr. Warren was at my bedside giving me an intrathecal in no time! Heaven. And then my doctor showed up. Okay, now I was in heaven. After i was comfortable my doctor checked me and I was 5cm. Minimal but it was a change! She broke my water since baby's head was at -2 station which is high and low is what we are going for. I repositioned to my side and waited to see what my contractions would be able to do. A few minutes later i started to feel a little more pressure but didn't get too excited since things had been moving so slowly. I turned to my other side. A little while later Heidi came in and wanted to check me...baby must have had some decelerations on the strip reading. I was complete and baby was down at 0 station (low). I did a few practice pushes with Heidi and brought baby to crowning. Michelle was there gowned, gloved, and ready. A few pushes later she was out. She pinked up while still in Michelle's arms, Clint cut the cord, and she was put up on my belly. She was 7#3oz and 19.5in long.