Delivery Day!

As I write this the delivery of our third child, Ms Rosalyn Mae, is already becoming hazy and since my two other delivery stories lacked the drama and intensity that this one afforded I feel the immediate need to record the details as best i can in order to remember the details and therefore be able to lord it over at least one of my children when they misbehave as a teenager.
This third time around I was determined to walk into this delivery without help- meaning no scheduled hospital induction. Two days prior to my due date, I got my wish. I started having "cramping" at around 4pm and by the time Justin got home I had hid myself in the bedroom so that I could "breathe through them" without terrifying the kids. Neither he nor I were certain it was labor but being in that much pain I definitely wanted to get it checked out so off we went to the hospital around 7pm. By the time we got there and began registering they asked me how far apart my contractions were. I whispered, "About 5 min I guess," and began huffing and puffing again. The sweet woman just looked at me wryly and said, "That's not 5, hon." Next thing I knew I was getting set up in my room and my doc was already there to check on why I was in so much pain. Apparently, what I gathered from her smirk, the cramping IS a contraction that just hurt more than I remembered. And I was already 6-7 cm dilated. As soon as I heard that number I began to panic about missing the epidural window. I made sure they knew of my concern by yelling "epidural" repeatedly into the hospital bed as I continued to "breathe" through my never ending contractions. The doc informed the back of my head that my blood pressure was too low for an epidural and they needed me to take on a few bags of fluid before they called the anesthesiologist. An hour later (9pm) the blessed man arrived to put me out of my misery and an hour after that I was fully dilated and ready to push. Pushing took longer than everyone expected. ( I knew this because the doc and nurses kept turning around to watch the 11 o'clock news in my room while I pushed. Not a good sign.) Your third time around everyone assumes you're a pro. With Duncan (#2), I did prenatal yoga to prepare for labor and pushed him out like a champ. With this one, I kinda did nothing...and it showed. So finally, around 11pm, Rosalyn (aka Roz) entered the world and our hearts.
After an hour or so Justin followed her to the nursery to watch her get her stats and bath. I got stuck in my room with a nurse who insisted it was her job to "get me up, get me clean, and get me to the new room." Sadly, she failed at the first goal and therefore the rest. I woke up on the floor with 8 nurses yelling my name. My first thought was, "How rude. I'm sleeping." Then I realized that I wasnt supposed to be. I'm used to passing out. It doesnt bother me all that much anymore but I learned hospital staff take it really really seriously. Justin came flying back to the room once he realized that the hubub he heard about a patient falling was probably his wife. Turns out, my low blood pressure that everyone knew about ahead of time and that caused the passing out made the rest of my stay a little more dramatic. Lots of extra stuff like EKGs, blood tests, and a permanent (and possessed) blood pressure cuff for 30 hours added to our stay. But our little dark haired, gray eyed, girl was perfect and of course, worth a slightly dramatic arrival story. We are so proud and so blessed to receive her into our family!