London Eve Ball

Where to even begin...
I'm overwhelmed with love and a peaceful happy/content feeling that life is JUST PLAIN OL GOOD! 
London Eve Ball came into our lives at 11:51 a.m. on April 11, 2012.  She weighed a whoppin 8 lbs. 6 ozs. and was 20.5 inches long. 
Our Birth Story:
After some discussion with our doctor, we decided to induce on my due date.  So unlike the old fashion way, we weren't rushing to the hospital when my water broke, it was planned, like much of my life (Shane likes to tease that I had to have it this way, so I could put her birth on the Outlook calendar! Heehee).  Even with planning, our birth story started off with some unexpected excitement! We got down to our car with our bags packed, birth ball in hand and sure enough, my car wouldn't start.  Thankfully, it was just a dead battery, so after a quick jump start, we were instructed to drive around for at least 30 minutes.  We called the hospital, let them know we'd be late and headed over to Brian's Shave Ice for a final snow cone before baby!

Can't get enough shave ice with sour spray, YUM!

We got to the hospital around 9:30 p.m. and it wasn't until the first nurse came in to start filling out paperwork that it all hit me.  It was time, in less than 24 hours, I would be experiencing labor (which I was terrified of) and meeting our baby (my life long dream).  Let the waterworks begin! Everything  at that moment became real and hit me. 
They hooked me up to a baby monitor and watched all our vitals.  A magical nurse gave me the dreaded IV and it was NOTHING.  I was so worried about this IV, I even lost sleep over it and I have to say, it was honestly NOTHING.  I could not believe it. 

After the IV, I was feeling pretty invincible! 

Super Sam!

We then waited for the Cervidel (inducing agent) to be delivered and the nurse explained what it does and how long it would take. We were told that I'd probably start feeling contractions the following morning and that my doc would be there to check in on me at around 9 a.m.   They gave me an Ambien, which I stupidly shared with my husband and told me to get a good night's sleep.  YA RIGHT?!  I tried to sleep, but basically just watched Shane sleep and stared at the fetal monitor.  At around 2 or 3 a.m. the fun began, I started to feel a tremendous amount of pain.  I tried to sleep and ignore it, but I finally gave in and called in a nurse.  She was the ONE mean nurse we experienced and probably the one I needed most to be nice to me.  She came in and I said can you check me, I'm in a lot of pain.  She said, it's probably "just cramps" from the Cervidel.  I thought to myself, if these are cramps, I don't know if I can do this?  She then said, what's your question?  Well nurse lady, I do not know, I've never given birth.  Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with what I was thinking-Am I supposed to feel this much pain this early?  I was told tomorrow?  Are you sure they aren't contractions?  Mean nurse lady then said again, "yes, they are just cramps, try to get some sleep, you're going to need your energy to deliver tomorrow."  Sure, I'll just go to sleep while I'm gripping the bed in pain, so simple! BITCH (pardon my French London). So I basically stayed up all night, holding onto the bed for dear life.  At around 5 a.m. I woke Shane up and said, babe we've gotta turn on the lights, TV... and get a nurse in here to check me.  I think am dying (insert a super dramatic Sam).  Thank goodness the mean nurse lady was off and I had a new nurse.  She came in and checked me.  I was dilated to 4 cm and definitely in "active" labor, having contractions.  OKAY, now that's an answer that makes more sense. 

At this point, I ask for an epidural.  It takes some time to get one and by the time I did, I was probably at 6 cm.  My labor was moving along rather quickly.  Dr. Pushkin (isn't that the best name for an OBGYN?) arrived and checked on me and said things are going great, she'd be back to deliver our baby after a c-section, sometime around 2 p.m.  

But NO, NO, NO, lil miss London wasn't going to wait that long.

I got an epidural (another thing I was dreading more than life) and it too was not bad at all.  And oh boy, let me just tell you, this epidural was my new best friend.  Once I had the epidural, I was laughing, joking and happy as could be.  I was ready! 

The morning went by and my awesome nursing team checked me again and sure enough I was 10 cm.  They said, let's do a test push and see if we should call the doc.  Sure enough it was time.  They told me to hold tight and Dr. Pushkin was there a few minutes later.  They taught me how to push and less than 30 minutes and some pushes later our beautiful baby girl was born!  I pushed for dear life, all I could think about was getting her out quick, so A) her head wasn't all cone shaped and B) I could hear that first cry C) so she didn't get stuck in the birth canal.  I pushed so hard, I broke blood vessels in my head and neck. 

Holding London for the first time was indescribable and a moment I will never forget.  Our lives had been forever changed and our story as a family of 3 had just begun!



Just a few of my favorite pics from her first moments of life, thanks to our dear friend Jillian Rose that arrived to the hospital within 30 minutes of her being born!

So much more to write and catch up on, two photo shoots, meeting lots of aunties, uncles and some of her grand parents. 

London is a keeper and we couldn't feel more blessed!

XO,

S