Better pic of Nia than the one Robyn was able to post the other day; took this one just now - you can see her face

She was born at 2:21 pm on August 16 via cesarean, 6 lbs 8 oz - exactly 1 pound more than I was when I was born :3

She is so amazing :D Her eyes are currently a really dark blue but I'm expecting that to change. Her eyelashes are soooo long, like half an inch, all the nurses kept commenting on that, lol... looks like she's got my nose, mouth, long toes and long fingernails, and Robyn's eyes, ears, and chin. Healthy as little horse, and unexpectedly calm... she barely fusses at all except when she's getting changed, sleeps like a rock and doesn't seem bothered by loud noises. So far very easy to care for, even with me still recovering from surgery :)

[TMI - Laborstuff]

So, the first day at the hospital, before my water broke, went slowly. My contractions got a lot lighter and barely hurt at all, and got less and less regular/frequent. Was starting to expect that they would send me home... but then that evening my water broke.

Even after that, the contractions stayed relatively light and I was only 4cm dilated (you need to be 10cm to give birth vaginally) and they decided to induce labor/strong contractions to speed up my dilation so I could, you know, push the little booger out. So they did that, and after a while I finally started having contractions strong enough to need pain medication for, so they gave me an epidural.

Telling you what, the process of getting one of those things SUCKS while you're having strong contractions - you have to sit on the edge of the bed and slouch s far down as you can with your chin against your chest while you get a huge freakin needle stuck in your back a couple times. The needle wasn't NEARLY as bad as having to maintain that position in so much pain.

Well, unfortunately the stuff they used to induce contractions (petocin or something that sounds like that) wasn't working nearly fast enough before the epidural meds wore off, and by then the contractions were so painful I was crying. They put in another helping of the epidural meds... and they did nothing at all for my pain. So they did another. Still nothing. So they said okay, let's use a stronger medication.... and they did.... and it barely did anything at all. At that point they said that all they could do for me was give me a spinal, which they'd only give me if I were to actually have a cesrean. I was nearly out of my mind with the pain and told them to do whatever they had to just make it stop x_x The doc didn't really want to do the operation, but then he checked my cervix and I was only 6cm dilated and he decided they couldn't wait for me to dilate all the way.

So they took me to the OR, and once they gave me the spinal (had to hold the same position as the one for the epidural, but for a few seconds as opposed to several minutes) it numbed me completely from the waist down and from there everything was smooth sailing.

[/TMI]

The funny thing is, no sooner do I get out of the OR and back to the room, than a huge thunderstorm starts up that knocks out the hospital's power for several hours - they even had to stop admitting patients altogether for a while. Gods, I don't know what I would have done if I was still in the OR when that happened O_O But, it's my understanding that eastern cultures believe that thunder/rainstorms are good luck for births and weddings, and that appears to hold true since everything having to do with Nia has been well and good so far!