Baby Riley is here!

Mariana

My beautiful baby girl is here!

On Wednesday 11/13, week 40 we had a Dr's appointment in which i was told i was only 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So i didn't worry, went back to work and whatnot.

On Thursday a friend recommended me to go for a hike. So i did, this hike included like 200 steps. I went up and down, had a picnic with my son and came back home. Fell asleep right away as i was super tired. At 9 pm i started feeling contractions, but not really painful ones so i stayed in bed and tried to sleep, but the contractions started to be more and more frequent lasting only 30 to 45 seconds.

At 1am i texted my doula and she recommended going to l&d. I still was hesitant as the labor with my first was so long i didn't want to rush to the hospital for no reason.

Anyway at 2am contractions were extremely painful but still lasting only 30 to 40 secs. We made it to l&d at 2.26am. The checked my cervix i was at 5cm.

I still thought i had more time. I wanted to take a bath but the pain was really bad so i just asked for the epidural instead.

The anesthesiologist took forever to come, and in the meantime contractions were getting stronger and stronger. I labored all that time with the support of my doula and husband. Having her was so calming and helpful. Such a positive experience.

My water broke and that intensified the whole process even more. I felt the urge to push but didn't want to do it without the epidural. They checked and i was at 10cms. In one hour i went from 5 to 10!!

The anesthesiologist finally showed, she gave me the epidural and something else for it to take effect faster. 5 minutes later it started taking effect... and it was such a relief!! A few moments later i started pushing. 4 pushes and she was out!

She was born on 11/15 at 4.54am

She's just perfect. Healthy and beautiful!

We're both home now just resting and adapting to our new life.

I wish you all a healthy delivery and a good experience welcoming your babies into this world!