I went into labor late on the evening of March 19. I waited a bit and then woke my husband. Contractions were strong and regular right from the start. I called my mom around midnight and arranged to drop the Boy off. We arrived at St Boniface hospital around 130 AM and had to wait a little while to be triaged. By this time I was pretty uncomfortable. At triage I was 4-5 cm dilated. It didn't take long for me to be admitted to LDRP where I was 6-7 cm. I asked for an epidural at this point and was informed that my water sac was bulging and that if I sat up for an epidural chances were good it would break and baby would come quickly and naturally. We decided to try for it anyway and it was successful. Just as with the Boy, the epidural only partly took reducing my pain to a tolerable level. I'm pretty sure my scoliosis interferes with the effectiveness of the epidural. That's fine by me.. I like to be actively involved in my labor as long as the pain is manageable. By just before 6 AM the doctor told me I was fully dilated except for an "anterior lip" on the cervix and that I should start pushing. By 0609 Amy was born! They placed her on me and told me to look. I said "Oh, a boy!" and they told me to look again! I guess I assumed I was having another boy without really realizing it. She opened her big eyes and looked around quietly. She didn't cry at all, just worked her hands and looked around. They gave her a little oxygen and stimulated her and she came around nicely.
The day before she came, the Boy said "If it's a girl I shall call her Cupcake!" My mom had a cupcake with a pink candle waiting for him when he woke that morning to celebrate Amy's birthday. He is the proudest big brother. He calls her "Amy Jennifer Cupcake Sparkle Sprinkles Misir" Everything beautiful he can think of.
We are so blessed.
