Ellyn (Ellie) Pamela arrived. 10 lbs 4 oz on 11/14 @ 10:02 PM. It was a natural, medicated birth that was anything but pain free. At one point (around 5 pm and ONLY 4 cm after being on pitocin all morning and after having my water broken at 8 am) I told my doctor i was done and didn't want to do it anymore because i couldn't imagine having to deal with this pain even with the epidural for 6 more cm and who knows how long that was going to take. Luckily, i had some amazing support with my husband and a very good friensd and we decided to call the anesthesiologist to increase my dose. It definitely made a difference but still wasnt pain free. I definitely felt "weak" for having such a strong resonse to the pain especially when they placed an internal monitor to measure the strength of the contractions and they insisted they werent very strong and they were concerned if they were strong enough to move me along. Ultimately, it turns out that i had very minimal amount of fluid that was mking it difficult for my baby to turn face down and decend further into the birth canal. They did an amino (something, i dont remember the name) and reintroduced fluid into the uterus. In a matter of 2 hours, I went from 5 cm to 9.5 cm. The pain and pressure was INTENSE. Thanks pitocin. I tried so hard to remain strong and composed but the tears of pain flooded my body. I was exhausted. Did i forget to mention that I barey slept the the night of the induction because my 8 year aon was up vomiting? (Joys of parenthood, I guess). To my disbelieve, i actually made it 10 cm and it was time to push. My son , who was also a large turkey, took 3 hours to push out. I told my doctor that i wasnt up for the challenge. She assured me that it wouldn't take that long and if it was she was going to go home first. LOL. Well, i only needed 3 contractions and 10 minutes and my beautiful and healthy baby girl was here. I cried such tears of joy. I did have some wicked tearing but stitches will heal. We are both doing well and heading home shortly to begin our new chapter together. Now... i just need a beer!