| Nine days...that's how late my little daughter was. Of course, she was on her own time-line, right? We were due on March 7, 1998. I had convinced myself that I was having a boy, to be born on February 28, 1998. I was so totally wrong. At any rate, by the time I actually went into labor, Sunday morning, March 15, I had decided that I wasn't really pregnant and having a baby. So I considered my fairly regular contractions to be annoying. They continued all day, even though I did everything I could think of to get rid of them. I changed positions all day long, tried to relax, etc. We even went on a 45 minute walk...stopping every 5 minutes for the contractions. By the time we got home (from our walk), and the contractions were starting to get closer together and a little more painful, I finally decided that I might actually be in labor. I called the nurse at the hospital, and she said I should go ahead and come on in. We packed a bag, and left for the hospital, which was 45 minutes away. As soon as I saw the room my baby would be born in, my contractions stopped altogether. The nurse said it was normal, and we should just give my body a little time to relax. It finally did, and the contractions came back at 2 minutes apart. I was only dialated 1 cm though. Early labor was fairly slow for me...it took 3 hours to get to 3 cm. I was finally admitted and given a bit of Demerol. I wanted a drug-free labor, but at the time, I felt like I needed a little pain relief. The Demerol really helped me relax, and I even slept between the contractions. I got a little more Demerol about 1 am. Labor was really uneventful. I just had contractions and tried to rest. Nothing major happened. The nurses left me alone for the most part. Around 5 am, I started feeling the urge to push. I was fully dialated, so the nurses gave me the go-ahead. I pushed for 2 hours! This was the most difficult part of labor. It took me forever to get pushing figured out. I was pushing with my whole body, instead of concentrating on the important part. Essentially the nurses were telling me I was wasting my energy. They did their usual yelling and counting to 10 routine, which I think they think is encouraging. It's not. They finally called the doctor, who arrived just when Chandler was crowning. He did nothing except cut me so I would not tear :( and catch her. He announced that we had a girl, and I was totally surprised. (Remember, I was expecting a little boy.) She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 19 inches long. A perfect little girl.
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