The Nellist News!!: "Ha Ha Ha PUSH!!!!"

We were scheduled for induction December 29th. due to some health issues I had during pregnancy. Both my OB and I thought I would have gone into labor earlier but Zion once again proved he was calling the shots. Taking the spontaneity out of going into labor was quite a different experience. I thought being the type "A", gotta have a plan type of person I am, that knowing when would take a level of stress out of it. However, I found it quite the opposite. Needless to say the whole sleep thing the night before didn't happen and it definitely didn't help knowing we had to arrive to the hospital at 5:15 am.

   The admitting nurse has a cruel game she plays with patients and tries to guess the weight of their baby. After she did some "hocus pocus" and placed her hands on my belly she sauntered over to the white board and wrote the number 10 lbs 10 oz. What the??? How the??? Well as if I wasn't anxious enough, you can imagine. Then the kind Dr. came in and told us that this was not going to be a quick process and to realistically count on the process taking at least 24 hours. Oh and by the way I think your nurse is totally off your baby will be at least 9 lbs. What a relief, only NINE POUNDS now!
   Induction began around 10am and we didn't actually meet our man until 4:28 am the following morning. You do the math... The Dr. was very right almost 24 hours from the time we arrived!
   On a more positive note I had amazing nursing care and lots of support from my team. Especially Jeremy who lulled us all to sleep with his very loud rhythmic breathing AKA "snoring." And of course I am being sarcastic. The only one snoring was Jeremy. However, I made sure to wake "Sleeping Beauty" when I found out I was dilated to 8! I had an Epidural that worked brilliantly for the most part allowing me to feel the contractions but just took the edge off.
   When I finally got to 10 cm the lovely Dr. wanted to hold off pushing until I "felt the urge!" About a half hour later we were all having a conversation with the nurse about those women on TV who come in not knowing they are even pregnant or those that don't even have to push and the baby pops out. Meanwhile during this conversation I was thinking to myself "is this "the urge" I am feeling? So I told the nurse I felt "a little funky." She responded with a chipper.."Let's check you." Her next response, not so chipper..."CLOSE YOUR LEGS!" Apparently, Zion was already crowning. Like the women on television I was virtually unaware, thanks the the beauty of modern medicine. I was so unaware in fact we were all laughing about the irony of the moment in relation to our previous conversation. The Dr. came in immediately and assumed her position and said "STOP LAUGHING!" Then she said "STOP PUSHING!", to which I responded "I'm not!" My body had apparently taken over and was doing the pushing for me. Very quickly the Dr. was ready and jokingly said..."OK YOU CAN LAUGH NOW!" to which I found quite funny and began to laugh. With a laugh and slight push... OUT HE POPPED! Zion was literally laughed into this world! What an entrance! So although it was a long and tiring experience it ended quite perfectly. My Dr. said she had never had to tell a woman in labor to "stop laughing."

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

"The LORD has done great things for them."

Psalm 126:2