The grand debut!

Jace is finally here! What a pleasure it is to have him. Although the process of getting him here was tiring...
  We were overdue by almost a week when the nerve in my right leg started giving out on me regularly. He must have been sitting right on the nerve, because every now and then, I would completely loose control of my right leg and it would collapse under me. Considering the fact that falling in general is inadvisable in very pregnant women, this was very scary. I decided it was time to be induced. The next day I had an appointment for a non-stress test, which if it showed that the baby needed to be born, would result in being induced. Oh, how I hoped that it would result in that! If it didn't I wasn't sure how soon I would be able to schedule being induced.
  Well, we went in for the test, and the amniotic fluid levels were low. There was concern that if the levels were too low, then Jace would start pinching his umbilical cord and that would be dangerous. So they decided it would be best to induce. At the time, I was actually having contractions, so they said that it would not quite be inducing so much as augmenting what was already going on helping my body progress. I was so happy, I was dancing in my chair! I couldn't wait! Finally, I would not be leaving the hospital until the baby arrived. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long...
   Well, they finally got us in a room and all hooked up to monitors and an IV, so I was constrained to the bed from that point on, unless I needed to use the bathroom. It was still almost two hours before they even started inducing... The doctor was late in arriving. I was so grateful to have Rod there. This was the first time I'd ever been a patient in a hospital, and it was all a little foreign and intimidating to me. I was glad Rod was there, who's been in hospitals before. It didn't phase him, he was quite comfortable in this environment, which made me more comfortable.
  Finally I was induced, and the contractions began in earnest. At first, I could bear them without too much difficulty. Then they got more and more painful. I always expected when I actually went into labor, that the contractions would be distinct and I would experience pain but then it would be over until the next one. That wasn't what I got. Instead, I knew I was having a contraction because it was increasingly more painful suddenly, and I knew the contraction was over when I felt like I could maybe bear the pain again. I had brought items to distract me, but when the time came, the distractions were just annoying and didn't help. Instead Rod spent a lot of this time holding me as I knelt and rocked on the bed trying to get through. Happily, a nurse came in when things were really bad and offered some narcotic to relieve the pain. She said it may make me a little drowsy... she was understating it. I was already tired, and then almost as soon as she administered the narcotic, I found myself stumbling into bed so I could fall asleep. That was probably one of the most peaceful moments of labor, sleeping. Rod says that every time I got a contraction while sleeping, one of my eyes would open. Apparently it was kinda creepy...
  I woke up again as that wore off, and I hadn't yet made it to 4 centimeters. Again Rod and I were just trying to get through the pain, waiting until we had progressed enough so I could get an epidural. Before I went into labor, I wasn't sure if I wanted it, but the pain had converted me, I wanted it as soon as I could get it. During this time, I think the woman next door was trying to go through natural birth, because I could hear her screaming through the wall. I really wished someone would make her shut up, because it was not making it any easier for me to get through.... I begged another nurse for some pain relief, and when the nurse came in, she offered the epidural. I didn't realize I could get it so soon, I still was about 3 centimeters. But apparently since they were inducing, they were controlling the contractions and I could get it sooner. They weren't worried about the contractions stopping if they gave me an epidural. Happy day!
  Honestly, I don't like the numb feeling. I still didn't like it when I got the epidural, but it was preferable to the pain, so I put up with it. Shortly after that, my water broke and we found I was at 4 centimeters. Induced at 1 pm, at 4 centimeters around 4. Now we were going. Rod and I passed the time watching the Olympics, our only chance to watch it this year, without tv... We were 6 centimeters at 6, 8 centimeters at 8, 9 centimeters around 10, and then at 10:15, we hit 10 centimeters. I had hoped we would have the baby on the 30th, and also that we would have it not in the middle of the night, because that just sounded exhausting... I didn't get my wishes there...
  Instead, I took naps while watching the Olympics. It was during one of these that I got what you might call cold feet. I was waking up from a nap as a nurse came in the room to check on me and make sure everything was ready for baby's arrival. I figured she also wanted to see if I was fully dilated yet, so I pretended to stay asleep so she wouldn't disturb me. I was nervous, now that it was here, I wasn't sure I was ready to be a mother, to take on the responsibility of taking care of a newborn child! Rod tried to gently wake me up and I knew my game was up. At the time I wasn't fully dilated, so I had a little more time before Jace actually arrived. I was glad.
  But, once I was fully dilated, I was ready to go. The doctor checked and said she wanted me to rest for an hour, to help the baby descend with gravity so the pushing would be easier. The doctor was surprised how quickly my body progressed, I almost did make it to have him born on the 30th. I was eager to start pushing, although I was numb from the epidural, so I couldn't feel the urge to push. Around 11:15, the nurse came back and we began pushing.
  I had been nervous about getting the epidural because I wanted to make sure I could push properly and effectively, which I wouldn't be able to feel how to do it when I was numb. Fortunately, I figured it out quickly enough that after a couple of pushes, Rod could already begin to see his head. Jace had a head full of dark hair! Unfortunately, not eating for most of the day made me very nauseous and I was having difficulty pushing because I was so nauseous. I ended up throwing up and still unable to push very well, until they gave me an oxygen mask. The throwing up made Jace's heartbeat decrease for about ten minutes, which really worried the doctor... who was called in late so she couldn't do anything about it. She was also irritated about being called in late because I tore before she got there and she couldn't prevent it...  But, after pushing for a little over an hour, Jace was born at 12:22 am on the 31st. For those of you who think of it, yes, Jace does have the same birthday as Harry Potter. I wonder if he'll find that cool someday, or if it'll just be appreciated by his parent's generation.
  Finally, my beautiful, goodnatured little package has arrived. He was born at 7 pounds 3 ounces and 20 inches long. We were both surprised to hear how long he was... Not sure where he got those tall genes. But now we've gifted the world with a future Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. :)

Already so modest!

We made it!

Rod is such a proud papa!

First family photo. I know, you can't tell I've been in labor for the  past several hours... :)

Getting his first bath.

Sleeping, well, like a baby!