The delivery

Alice

Alice Marie Kessler:
born December 8th at 7:04pm
8lbs 2oz
20in long
Beautiful.

That's right, she is finally here! How? When? What's the scoop?  Well, on the 7th I went to my doctor's appointment, and he stripped my membranes. (Women, if you are considering having your doctor do this, just as a fair warning it hurt) He told me that I was dilated to a two, and that he would probably see me Friday. This of course made me so happy, since I wasn't going to have to be induced. So the day rolls by....



And the contractions started. Now I'm not talking the 'oh that kind of hurts, but there's no progress contractions.' I'm talking the breath taking, back aching, I want out of here ones. Turns out that I was feeling most of the contractions in my back too, yikes. So they get more intense, consistant and we decided we should go to the hospital. We get there and they shuffle me into a back room, watch the contractions and, after an hour has passed, check my cervix. No progress.

So they send me home with a sleeping pill to help me sleep through the contractions. At this point it's passed midnight. I think I slept for two hours. I started throwing up in the wee hours of the morning and the next thing I know, we're back at the hospital because my contractions are too much to bare. This time after monitoring and checking, they decide they should admit me to labor and delivery and once there they could get me an epidural to help with the back labor. We were admitted somewhere around 2pm (I believe.)

Nearly delivery 

First stage of labor went by quickly, had family and friends to talk to through it and the epidural helped greatly to minimize the intense back pain I was having. Second stage of labor hit hard......

This is where I get to brag about the most amazing man in the world. This whole time, my husband paid attention to me, and me only. He counted through contractions with me, held my hand, and kept me from panicking. He didn't just stand there. (Men, there's a great book out there, get it. Even if you aren't a first time parent, get this book. My thanks to S.E. for sending it my way) I went from 5 centimeters to time to push in something like ten minutes. Brandon stood there and held my hand and talked me through everything.

The most amazing man in the world

Here's the best part, I only had to push through six contractions in order to see and hear my baby girl. It's true what they say, any pain that I had at that moment was gone the moment I heard her cry. Everything else just floated away.

How do I feel now? Four nights later, I'm sore in all places that tell me that I used every muscle in my body, I still think my husband is the most amazing man in the world, and in all honesty I feel like I can conquer the world.

Alice has given me the strength to take a new look at my life and the choices I had been contemplating. I realize that as long as I have her and Brandon to come home to, everything will work out.