She has arrived

I can't believe she is finally here.  Many months of planning can't prepare you for the way you feel the moment they put your precious baby in your arms.  She is absolutely perfect in every way.  I can't begin to describe the way I feel when I simply look at her let alone hold her.

We went to the hospital on Thursday night at 9pm for our scheduled inducement.  They hooked me up to the machines and saw that I was already having contractions on my own.  I have a feeling she was going to make her debut whether we liked it or not.  I didn't feel any of the contractions...yet.  I was still only 2cm dilated so they inserted a pill to help soften my cervix.  Nurses came to check on me every hour or so to see what changes were being made.  At 2:30 in the morning one of the nurses began to roll me over and my water broke.  What a weird feeling that is.  I completely soaked the sheets.  30 minutes later I started to feel the contractions.  Props to all the women out there who bare through labor with no drugs but I can tell you it's not for me.  I was crying, wailing, grasping Spencer's hands so tight trying to fight through the pain.  The nurses then called my doc to get my permission to administer the epidural right away.  Right away means an hour and half later.  I started to feel ten times better by 5am.  The only thing that kept me focused during those few hours of contractions was the royal wedding.

By 10am I was dilated to a 5 and figured it wouldn't be until the evening that I would begin pushing.  I told Spencer to get out of the hospital for a bit and have lunch with his parents.  He got back just before 1pm and the nurse came in and checked on me and I had dilated to a 10.  I couldn't believe how quickly I jumped from a 5 to a 10 in just 3 hours.  20 minutes later I started pushing and 40 minutes after that she was here.

Vivian Grey Mitchell was born April 29th at 2:02pm weighing 8lbs and 10oz and was 21and 1/4" long.