From the beginning...

Since I just started this blog, and Hallie is already 6-months old, I thought I would back up a little to the very beginning!!

Hallie was born on Wednesday, 7/12/06 at 2:57pm, after 36 hours of labor...

On Monday, I decided to go on a 3-mile walk and do squats. Not surprisingly, I woke up that night (around 1am) having contractions. I timed them until about 3am and then woke up Dave. We called the hospital and they told us to come in. We were back home by 6:30am (I was only dilated a 2) and I called in sick to work. My mom arrived from Moberly around 10:30am and I spent the entire day have contractions. Between contractions, I SCRUBBED the floor, took a walk and got things ready for the baby. Around 7pm, I decided I couldn't stand the pain anymore and we went into the hospital. They checked me and I was....STILL only 2cm dilated. I was really bummed and extremely grouchy at the nurse, who told me she didn't think I was in "real" labor. If looks could kill...that woman would have been in a pile on the floor.

They checked me again and decided I HAD progressed a little, so they called the doctor and he told them to admit me. A few botched IV's later and I was hooked up and ready to have a baby. Dave slept in a chair next to my bed and spent a lot of time watching ESPN. My mom also slept in the hospital with us and did Dave's job by rubbing my feet during contractions. The contractions continued through the night, and I finally allowed them to give me something to "take the edge" off. It worked, and I got a few hours of sleep. The doctor came in around 6:30am (this is Wednesday now) and started Pitosin. The Epidural Man was right behind him and got my drip started right away. The epidural made me feel kind of sick, so I tried to rest for a lot of the day. My dad showed up around 11am and I had people in and out of my room the rest of the day. I loved it!

The nurses checked me around 1pm and told me I was about 8cm. They called the doctor and when he checked me, I was a complete 10 cm and ready to push!! I only pushed for 20 minutes and out came Hallie! She was 7 pounds, 3 1/2 ounces and perfect!

Hospital Pictures: