Here's the story... of a lovely lady!!

I apologize for the delay in writing all the details about Brooklyn's birth. I know there are many eager fans anxiously checking our blog 6 times a day waiting for an update! =) Who knew it was so tiring to be a mom? Anyway, here goes. I was going to be induced on Friday the 12th at 7:00 am. So, I had an appointment with the doctor on Thursday to see if my cervix was going to be "ready" on time. At the appointment (around 12:30 pm) I was only dilated to a one and about 70% effaced. So, they decided that I probably needed a little help. There is a "ripening gel" that they put on to help get the cervix ready. It doesn't induce labor, just softens you up so you will be ready for an induction. I was supposed to get one treatment right after my appointment and then another six hours later. I went straight over to the hospital from my appointment. I got there around 1:30 and they checked my cervix again. Well, this time I was a 2 1/2 to a 3 and 90% effaced. The doctor was a little confused because I had just been a one an hour earlier. She debated as to whether I even needed the gel at all. She decided to go ahead and give me one treatment just to avoid any problems the next day. They put the gel on and I left the hospital around 3:00 pm. By the time I got home, I was having quite a bit of cramping but they had told me I would probably cramp some so I didn't think anything of it. I went home and took a bath. My parents had just gotten there from the airport. After my bath, I still wasn't feeling well so I sent my dad to the store to get me some Tylenol. By the time he got back, the cramps were feeling more like contractions. My mom had been telling me the whole time that she thought I was in labor and she was laughing at me that I wanted to treat my contractions with a little Tylenol. =) So, I didn't take the Tylenol because she had me convinced we might be going to the hospital soon. We headed over around 5:30 pm and I was dilated to a 4 so they admitted me. I asked for an epidural right away but they told me that I wouldn't be able to get one for quite a while because the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. Bad news. I asked for some other kind of pain killer and they told me that they didn't want to give me one because the baby's heart rate wasn't very reactive and they didn't want to make it worse with narcotics. More bad news. But, about 15 minutes later, a nurse came in and told me they had just caught another anesthesiologist who was about to go home and convinced him to come give me an epidural! Hooray!!! I will love that man for the rest of my life. =) I was comfortable and settled just in time to watch The Office. It was so nice. Then, I just kind of dozed until they told me to start pushing at around 3:00 am. The whole experience wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The epidural was perfect. I could still feel just enough to know what I was doing, but I wasn't too extremely uncomfortable. The nurses said I was a "natural" at pushing. I guess you really do discover new talents all the time. =) Jason was a big help, mostly because he would get so excited when he could see the baby and that was very encouraging. He did almost pass out a few times though. We had both only gotten about 4 hours of sleep the night before because we were working on a school assignment. Brooklyn Rose Maner was born at 3:54 am. She weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. When they put her on my belly I just started crying. I was so surprised that I could already love this little stranger so much. I rubbed her side until they took her away to clean her up. She is such a little cutie. She's a good little eater and loves to be held. She is very expressive and dramatic with her face and her little cries. I am so proud of her and can't wait for everyone to meet her. Jason will post pictures here in a minute. I hope I've written enough to satisfy all of our eager readers. =) Thanks for supporting us at such an incredible time of our lives.