Mission Accomplished

After 9 months of waiting, the day of deliverance came our little bundle of joy finally arrived. EmmaLee Rose Johnson was born on May 5, 2012 at 1:33 AM. I was admitted to the hospital Thursday night and induced (well, given a cervical softener) at that time. I had contractions all night and into the morning. But they were basically worthless because they weren't doing anything. The next morning my water broke and they thought that we would actually see some progress after that. Boy were they wrong.

 After about 6 hours of no progress (meaning I'm still only dilated 1 1/2 cm) they hooked me up to the pitocin and that's when the real pain started punching me in the face and every where else too. I couldn't have an epidural until I was dilated to a 4. Now, at that time I was all for going natural for as long as possible. But after about an hour and a half of waves intense pain every 60 seconds I decided to ditch my ridiculous plan and go with an epidural ASAP. So about 7 hours later, after being relentlessly beaten by my uterus I was dilated to a 3 1/2 and they decided to give me an epidural.

 Epidurals = Gift from heaven. 'Nuff said.

The doctor became concerned at how slowly I was progressing. I had been in labor for 19 hours and was only dilated to a 3 1/2. He came into the room and told me that I would probably have to have a C-section. He was suspected that:

 A) Either the baby was too big to descend into the birth canal and dilate me properly or

 B) she was caught up the the umbilical cord and that was preventing her from dropping. 

However, the baby wasn't showing any signs of distress at that time so he continued to monitor me and see what happened.

After that I got kind of discouraged because I had already labored for so long and I didn't want to have a C-section after all that. But I decided that if it was best for the baby I would be okay with it.  

So Ryan and I said a prayer asking that everything would work out and then we waited...

BUT not for long! after about an hour of having the epidural I was dilated to a 5 and about 45 minutes after that I dilated to a 10! Woo hoo! I couldn't have been happier. Things were finally working out!

I started pushing and about 2 or 3 hours later the baby started showing signs of distress. So the doctor whipped out his forceps and got things moving, and before we knew it we had a beautiful baby girl in our arms. She cried a little at first and then just looked around, her big eyes as wide as they could be. I couldn't believe how perfect she looked to me. I was expecting a gross slimy alien looking thing with a cone head, but she looked like a perfect little baby who just happened to belong to Ryan and I. I was soooo happy. 

She weighed 8 lbs, 12 oz. The reason it took so long to progress was because 

A) She WAS a little too big for my pelvis and

 B) she was all wrapped up in the umbilical cord. 

Nonetheless, against all odds, she came the way I preferred. The nurses calculated it all out and I was in labor for 28 hours. I would do it again and again in a second for the little gift from heaven we were given. She has been a wonderful addition to our family; we have been so blessed. We love her so much. 

She made it <3

Right after they put the goop in her eyes. "What'd ya go and do that for?"

So small :)

My pretty baby girl

C'est la vie

This past week I have learned a lot about patience. Here are my updates... I haven't dilated at all yet. The doctor said the baby is content where she is for now, despite my efforts of making her want to come out. And when I say efforts I mean SERIOUS effort. I have gone running (not the most comfortable or beautiful sight in the world, I know!) worked out more than I have worked out this whole pregnancy in many different ways, and I go on multiple walks a day. The only thing all this hard work has helped is my ability to sleep at night. I didn't wake up once last night! Miracles do happen, people.
Anyways, this is not the extent of the madness I have tried, but we wont go into details. Fact of the matter is, she DOESN'T want to come out right now and unfortunately she has probably inherited my stubborn streak and therefore if she doesn't want to do something, she won't! She loves it in there, she has dance parties even when there isn't any music. Silly little girl. :)
I have had contractions and pretty intense back aches a lot the past month and a half. But I love the fact that my little girl is growing and is healthy, so I really shouldn't complain. I am grateful for this. Really, I am... So I have decided something. I am going to let the baby come when she wants. I am no longer going to go to ridiculous efforts to try to get this little girl to come. I am going to sit back, kick my feet up, read a good book and just enjoy this last week of quiet bliss while I still can.

Okay, anyways so I started working on the nursery about the time we found out the gender of our baby. Well... actually Ryan started on it and in turn I worked on it as well. Ryan repainted the walls, and got the room all ready for me to decorate -- which is something I LOVE doing by the way. The room has now been decorated and stocked and we are now officially ready to go, here are some pictures of our baby's new room! Enjoy.

Alright, here is a quick glance at part of the nursery

The bassinett will probably go into our room for the first month or so, and then she'll move to her big girl crib.

These are hanging above the dresser. 

That's all for now folks. There will be more pictures as soon as the baby is born. Now I am going to go do something relaxing. See ya!