It all started on Tuesday September 14th. I woke up around 5 am having a contraction. Nothing noteworthy I'd been having them occasionally for a few weeks now. I went downstairs because pregnant girls have to pee, whether they want to get out of bed or not. On my way back to bed I stopped by the kitchen for something to drink and maybe a quick snack. I'd been trying everything to induce labor at this point, with no help from Josh who said she could stay in there for 41 weeks if she wanted to. I ate my bagel and drank my juice and by the time I headed back upstairs had another contraction. Back in bed I woke up to another stronger contraction around 6 am. I noted the time and counted 3 more contractions in the next 40 minutes. I had never had more than two in an hour let alone for 2 hours in a row now. I got excited and decided this could very well be the day. I got out of bed and decided to stay busy and perhaps help things along.
After cleaning up the kitchen, folding laundry, etc until 9 am I suddenly realized, if I was in fact having this baby today I should get a little more than the three hours I got due to my late night. So I headed back to bed as Josh headed out to help my dad with a project they had planned for that morning. I told Josh before he left I'd been having contractions and sent an optimistic text to some friends and my sister. I went back to bed waking up occasionally for a contraction that was a little worse than the barely noticeable ones.
I finally got up again around 1 pm and got to work cleaning the house top to bottom. By now Josh was back and busy chopping firewood my dad had given him. He came in as I was finishing the last of my cleaning projects and asked what was for lunch. He was tired and I was out of projects so I started cooking in my pristine, cleaned to the last tile kitchen. While I was cooking my mom called to see what was up since I hadn't called her yet. My contractions had gone from 12 minutes apart to 8 and now to 6. I called my OB/GYN and spoke to his nurse. She said since I had been dilated to a 3 for almost a month I should go to the hospital now just to be on the safe side.
We got to the hospital a little before 5 pm. When we checked in they told us they had quite a few mom's in labor tonight. After checking my cervix and attaching me to the monitors to confirm we were in labor we were moved to the last labor and delivery room 101. My regular OB was out of town so we were introduced to the other doctor in his practice. Dr. Harward, many a friend pointed out after seeing the pictures, is very good looking. I can honestly said I didn't really notice. I started out excited that this was the end of being pregnant and I would get to see our little girl in a matter of hours. The amount of hours I had anticipated, I confess, were a smaller number than the reality.
Things were pretty good until we were dilated to an 8. The contractions hurt but they were tolerable then around 930pm they got really painful. At this point I was shaking, death grip on the bedrail, trying not to cry because it only makes it more painful, asking my mom not to cry so I wouldn't cry, Josh later told me he was ready to cry, wondering how women have done this for thousands of years without anesthesia, hearing from our nurse Vickie, my mom, and Josh how I was doing so good, not believing any of them, my water still hadn't broke..... The doctor came in and went over our options I thought about it for a contraction or two and then I decided I needed the epidural because things were not going as quickly as I'd thought and this "transition" phase didn't seem to want to finish the transition.
Doctor Harward had them call the anesthesiologist and ask him to get her sooner than the typical 30 minutes. It felt like an eternity though my mom said it was about 45 minutes. After the epidural I felt incredibly itchy but could actually calmly speak to people. My water didn't break. It slid out in what looked like a jelly fish with a slight little hole in it. Both the nurses had never seen anything like it.
It took forever to go from almost a 10 to an actual 10. Finally at 5 am we were at a 10 the doctor wanted to rest let the contractions move the baby further down the birth canal for the next 30 minutes and make the actual pushing go more quickly. That would have been fine and well but around 5:10 I was really feeling that baby being pushed. My mom and Josh were napping until around then. I tried to be tough, hit the anesthesia button again. By 5:20 they were only getting worse. Finally at 5:25, five minutes is an eternity if you are in pain, I called the nurse and said I really didn't feel like I could not push anymore. The doctor came in and got the respiratory specialist, and the PCT in, had them call the anesthesiologist and tell him to hurry since the button was doing nothing and said the epidural meds were gone, and asked if I wanted to wait. At this point I thought he'd lost his mind, I told him I was already in pain and would prefer to get this over sooner and start pushing without the drugs.
We started pushing at 5:30. It burned, it hurt, but it was all worth the little chubby angel that emerged at 5:43 am. Weighing in at 8 pounds and 14 ounces 20.5 inches tall with pouty lips and constantly trying to suck her hand. 
Everyone tells you how different your life will be from that moment on and how much you'll love them. You know they are right but uuntil you are in that moment you really don't know just how different and how much you'll love them. We had her first bath later that day and we named her around noon. Our little Scarlett Emy Rieske.
Just breathtaking! Love this post and her name is timeless!
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