Emily & Jason: Ivy Grace Davies-6 pounds, 3 oz. Born 1/4/14 at 11:15am

My last post was written 3 days before I had little Ivy Grace. It's hilarious to re-read that and think...

"wow, when I wrote that, I thought I had 2 more weeks to prepare for this little one in my life." But NOPE...Ivy didn't want to wait 2 more weeks, she wanted to come hang out with us early, which is fine by me.

On Thursday and Friday, I felt different. Things were happening that made me think I was closer to having little Ivy. But, at my Dr. appt on Friday, I was only dilated to a 2. It made me think that I would not be going into labor for another few weeks. Well, I was dead wrong on that one. On Friday, around 7pm, I started having contractions. You know, the ones that feel like cramps. I thought, "okay, here come those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions." When they started to hurt more, I was like "hmmm....this can't be it, can it?" Around 10pm, Jason and I thought we should throw a few things in a bag just in case it happened that night. We kept saying "there is no way it is happening tonight, but just in case."

I woke up with the first bad contraction at 11:41pm. It lasted about 30 seconds. I tried to be quiet, because I didn't want to wake Jason up. I opened a note on my phone to keep track of when the contractions occurred. I remembered that my Dad told me "don't go to the hospital until they are 5 minutes apart." Here is what my iphone note said:

11:41

11:45

1:09

1:30

1:41

2:03

2:21

2:27

2:32

2:39

By the time is was 2:39 am, I was in so much pain that Jason and I went out on the couch in the main room to try to get my mind off of it. It didn't work. It was so frustrating because the contractions would be 6 minutes apart, then 10, then back to 7, then 11. I just wanted them to be 5 minutes apart so we could go to the hospital already. Jason and I logged on to the Davis Hospital website to pre-register, just in case the contractions kept continuing. That epidural was callin' my name. I don't know how to describe the pain of contractions. It's like you can't do anything for a minute, you can't talk, you can't walk...you just hunch over, try to breathe and swear (just a few times.) Don't ask Jason how much I swore, he might tell you it was a few more times than I remember. The contractions continued...

2:48

2:53

3:05

3:11

3:17

3:24

3:32

3:36

3:40

3:45

The contractions were now close enough to head to the hospital. We threw some more stuff in a bag and went to the car. It had snowed a little and I was so upset that we had to take time to wipe off the car. I also was upset that Jason was going 80 and not 100mph!

When we got to the hospital, we found out our pre-registration didn't go through. I had to register again while my contractions continued. It was kind of funny because she would ask me a question, I would say "hold on one second" and have a really painful contraction and then answer the questions. They then took me up to a room in a wheelchair and checked me. I was between 3-4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. I was so scared that they were going to send me home or something, but nope...I was on my way to having the baby.

The epidural came at 5:45am. I cannot describe to you the relief that I felt after that shot. Glen (the guy that gave me the epidural), was my absolute best friend for taking the pain away. People always talk about scary epidurals and how they hurt. I only felt a little pressure and would take 300 more needles like that over feeling the contraction pain.

Getting the epidural makes your legs feel like they are asleep. They kind of tingle and when you touch them, you can't feel them. It is the weirdest thing. When they would come to check on me, they would have to move me, because I couldn't move my legs myself. By the time I had Ivy, the epidural had worn off a little, so I could move my legs and feel the pressure.

At around 10:15, I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. It was so crazy how fast it happened. I was ready (and terrified). I pushed for about 15 minutes and out came my little Ivy Grace. She was the cutest thing I had ever seen. They put her on my chest (she was screaming), and she calmed down a little. It was the absolute best feeling in the world, meeting my daughter, seeing what she looked like. She had my pouty lips and Jason's adorable but huge feet. She was perfect. Jason cut the umbilical cord and we got to hold our baby. It was the happiest and best day of our lives. I think our hearts grew 5 sizes. Sounds cheesy, but it is true. You can't describe the feeling. It just is something you have to experience.

Below are some pictures we took at the hospital. I will post a lot more later. I just wanted to remember everything.