Happy Birthday, Alli!

So, we all know I was due on September 30th. At my Monday appt, my OB talked about having me come in on Friday the 28th so she can break my water. I got a phone call from their office on Wednesday, asking me to come in on Thursday to get checked to make sure we were still on board for Friday. 

I got to her office at 9am when she first opens, but she was out doing a c-section and I was told that I would be first in line when she got back in. So my mom and I went down to the food court to hang out and grab a bite to eat. We went back to the office to wait, and the dr called me back around 11pm. She checked me, and I was at 4cm, so she told me it was time to go to L&D. 

My only issue was that my mom cannot drive on the highway (she panics on the on and off ramps) and hubby was at work 40 minutes away. So I explained that to the dr, she said it was fine to check into L&D in an hour and to head out. I drove my mom's car back to Mesquite so she'd know how to get home, and Jake met me there. 

We got back to Dallas and into L&D right at noon. We got settled into our room and got the IV started around 1pm. My contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes, but only some of them were painful. The nurse recommended that I get the epidural before the dr broke my water, since it would make the contractions stronger and more painful. I got the epidural at 2:40, and holy. freaking. crap. It HURT. I may or may not have called the anesthesiologist a mother-effer a time or two amid all of my sobbing. I felt bad afterwards, but hubby said that he's sure he's been called worse. I was happy with the epidural, I was still able to move my legs and feel pressure, but it really took the pain away. Shortly after, the dr came and checked me, and since I was at 5cm, she broke my water. 

After that, it was just a waiting game. At 4pm, they checked me again, and I was at 9cm. By 4:30ish, I was at 10cm, so they paged the dr, got the bed all ready and got my legs into position. When the dr got there, I pushed once, and Alli was born. 

Her stats? Born at 4:50pm, 20 inches long, 7 lbs 10 oz. And obviously my VBAC was a success. Her name is Alli Stephen, middle name is after hubby's dad, who is hubby's favorite person (besides yours truly of course). 

We only stayed at the hospital for one night, since my OB and the pediatrician cleared us to go home after 24 hours instead of the normal 48. I'm just so blessed, she's perfect. It's surreal, having such a normal pregnancy/delivery after all the problems we went through with Ava. Ava's dealing with a little bit of jealousy right now, but we're just making sure that she get a lot of momma time too.