Labor and Delivery Recap

Most of you have probably heard about Randal's arrival from Matt, myself, or one of our parents but in case you haven't I will recap...also this will suffice as my journaling of this event so I have something to look back on.

For about two weeks prior to Randal's arrival I had been feeling uncomfortable, however, I was absolutely miserable come Tuesday February 23rd. I was horribly sore all over and could not find any position that was comfortable. Luckily I was working from home at this point so I was able to walk around the house, sit on the yoga ball, etc in an effort to be comfortable. After my work day was finished my mom and I went to walk to mall. I could barely make it through the mall as my hips were hurting but I was able to tough it out. After returning home from the mall and eating dinner I decided to take a shower in an effort to relieve muscle soreness. Please note, at this point I had come to terms with the fact that Randal would not come on her own and I would be miserable until my scheduled induction on Friday the 26th. My mom left the house around 10 pm and Matt and I sat down to watch the Olympics. Around 11pm Tuesday evening I had my first contraction and from the very beginning they were consistent. Matt and I tried to get some rest but as I drifted in and out of consciousness I could tell my contractions were getting closer and more painful. At 2am Wednesday morning I decided it would probably be a good idea to go ahead and get ready. As I was getting ready my contractions began to come in sets of 5 mins and 2 mins and were getting much more painful. I woke Matt up around 230 am and told him it was time!!! He got the car packed and we were off to the hospital at 3am.

Although going in to labor in the middle of the night is not ideal from an energy perspective it was nice to be able to go all the way down College Rd without hitting a single light :) Around 345am the triage nurse checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated. Although I was certain this was the "real thing" I was glad that the nurse confirmed we would not be leaving the hospital with out a baby in hand :)

My contractions continued to intensify and although I wanted to go "all natural" I decided that I would have the epidural. This was one of the best decisions EVER!!! I had the epidural around 6am (I think?...timing was relative until she arrived). I was able to talk on the phone and sleep until the doctor told me it was time to push around 830. After pushing for roughly 30 mins Randal Jean made her arrival at 9:02 AM on February 24th weighing in at 7lbs 9oz and 18 in long.

Matt and I were (and still are) amazed by our little girl. She is absolute perfection and we couldn't have asked for anything more.