Just as I predicted our little bundle was born on Halloween! On the 30th of October I started to get painful (or I thought they were painful at that point!) contractions around 2pm. At 9pm we went to the hospital only to be sent back home - I was not even one cm dialated! Grrr. The nurse told me I was still at 0 on a scale of 1 - 10 with pain. Hmph. My parents arrived at 2am from their 8hr trip and my water seemed to have broken...there was little gushes every now and then that I knew was NOT urine. Also, my contractions were finally less than 5 min apart. Contractions really hurt, I was quite surprised by their intensity (and yet, still so niave!). We went back to the hospital - STILL NOT DIALATED. However, I was leaking amniotic fluid so they admitted me - after 2 hours of waiting.

My doctor was away for the week so I had her fill in who, as it turns out, was a much kinder lady that we feel in love with. They had me walk the hallways for another hour as they prepared a room and for me...I spent most of the time curled up in a ball on the floor. The contractions can't get worse than this? Can they? Was all that was going through me head...so stupidly niave.

They returned and gave us a birthing room. I spent 3 more hours in a hot shower - apparently, I had back labour...the worst kind for pain. And no, counter pressure does not work...it hurts worse. Around 10am or so my poor husband begged me to get a shot of demerol. I did for his sake - demerol does not work for all women, and that includes me. Hmph...made me sleep in between contractions however. When my doctor checked my cervix before the shot she and the rest of us were surprised (they thought I would be in labour the entire day) I was 4-5cm already! Yippee!

I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon being haunted by blurry popsicles and a worried looking husband - demerol. It finally wore off and the contractions grew stronger and closer...I started to cry out loud with each one - they had double peaks for about an hour or two. My nurse was crying and very upset that I refused an epidural. I also refused an IV - like I wanted to kill all my pain near the end of my labour when I went through all that? With the possibility of causing a c-section? Nope. I refused the IV because I was cross and didn't want things hanging out of me. Bad enough I was hooked up to the fetal monitor for these contractions. I started pushing without permission during the last hour - I couldn't help it...my body did it for me, breathing did not work...it was the baby's head bearing down on my cervix which was only 8cm. Soon, I was told that I could go ahead and push (I hated the fact that each and every nurse believed they had to keep their hands in there to see what was going on during a contraction!) At this point, all the pain went away...the baby turned around and I was finally dialated. It only took 40 minutes of pushing...which only hurt a little bit as I tore but I had good control and was able to push and hold it when I was told to. After the head came out I could feel the rest of the body ease out like nothing...they put the little body on my belly and I saw a purple little bum that was attached to a tiny little GIRL! Rebekah Elizabeth was born 4:28pm on Halloween. (My doctor missed trick-or-treating with her children in order to deliver my pumpkin). She weighed 5lbs14oz. She was taken to the neonatal care unit for 10 min as she swallowed some meconium and had grunted breathing for a while. They returned her before I was even stitched up.

My husband and my parents were estatic - we all wanted a little girl. I was wide awake and in shock that suddenly all the pain was gone. They brought back the baby and we spent two terrible days in the hospital - nurses are so rough and rude with my baby! We returned home on the 2nd to find many, many gifts and wonderful people. My bottom is still sore with stitches but Rebekah is doing wonderful...at her 1 week appointment she had already surpassed her birthweight and was at 6lbs 3oz. She is settling into a routine - 3hrs, with a wake time in the morning...she'll spend from 9:30 til 12:30 wide awake each day. She hates to be diapered, bathed...she hates burps and hiccoughs - which she gets regularly. Otherwise, she is a good little girl and is due to wake up any moment.

I haven't been able to figure out how to attach pictures to this site yet - sorry!

~ Monoceros