The Arrival of Naomi Grace

Naomi Grace was born on March 15, 2010 at 6:35pm. She weighed in at 7lbs and 5oz, a perfect size. They started the induction that morning and through the day I contracted but did not progress much. They broke my water and although the contractions got more and more painful I wanted to try to go as long as possible, if not through the whole process without an epidural. I made it 7 and a half hours and was finally in WAY too much pain to continue without DRUGS! They gave me an epidural at approximately 5pm and it was such a relief. They had a special pillow that they put between your knees to keep the pelvis open and help the process along. Well, let me tell you what...it works! They had me on my right side and the epidural didn't seem to be working on the left side so they flipped me with the idea that epidurals work with gravity. Even after switching sides the contractions were so strong on the left side that they were becoming unbearable. That is when the pressure came. The nurse decided to check me just to see where we were and at that point we found that I had progressed from a 6 to a 10 in less than an hour. The doctor was not at the hospital yet and that is when the nurse informed me that gravity was my worst enemy. They tilted my head way down, put my knees in the air and told me to keep them closed! I did this for about 10 minutes before I asked the nurse if she had ever delivered a baby because she was about to. The urge to push was so strong and I told them that if the doctor wasn't there soon I was going to push and push hard. They encouraged me to wait through 2 or 3 more contractions and at the end of the second contraction I encouraged them to get someone to catch the baby because I wasn't waiting anymore and neither was she. That is when the doctor ran in the room and I said "let's go!" and I pushed just as she sat down. Naomi was born 3 pushes later. I cried and cried. It was such a relief to have her in my arms and safe. She is beautiful and HEALTHY! She is our little miracle. It was by far my hardest pregnancy and labor but definitely worth it!