today is the day...whether you've had a baby shower or not

MARCH 27 2008
430am: So I woke up and felt basically like I had peed my pants. That's a pretty fun feeling to wake up too, let me tell you. I went upstairs, changed, I think I woke up Benjamin and told him, but that part is fuzzy, then I came back downstairs and started watching the excellent tv programming that is available at 430 in the morning. I believe my options were "Princess Cake Challenge" on food network, and various infomercials.
900am: After convincing myself that I wasn't imagining things and that I would hate myself if there was actually something wrong, I called the doctor and told the nurse what I had felt. I hadn't leaked anything really since earlier and figured it was probably nothing, but what could it hurt.
1100am: I always go to my appointments alone, but because it was around lunch time Benjamin decided to come home and go with me. He came home and I grabbed my "bag", just in case, although I was sure that because I was bringing it, we would for sure be sent back home. By this point there was absolutely no sign of the earlier "leak" and I began to think I might have made it up.
1150am: The nurse takes us back and I tell her the whole story. She equated how I was feeling to when she used to take her son to the pediatrician for a 104 degree fever, but when they would get there he would be running around the office and would of course have no fever. My super-cool doctor (we'll call him Dr.Water-breaker) comes in to "test the water". As he's doing the swab he mentions that he's pretty sure my water is broken, but they'll do the slide and check for certain. As the nurse prepares the slide he checks to see if I'm dilated (I had had an appt the day previous and was about a cm and a 1/2), as he checks......the flood gates open and I see Benjamin's face, as he see "a giant waterfall coming from off the table". Dr. Water-breaker says "well, I guess we don't need to check that slide...you'll be having a baby today". I'm still laughing at the absolutely absurdity that my water has just broken all over the exam room and I am going to be having my babygirl 3 weeks early. After the nurse makes me a diaper and I accept just how disgusting I'm going to feel as I walk to the hospital next door (when you're water breaks, it just keeps coming...and coming....and coming), we start making the necessary calls. Mother-in-law was first of course to let her know she needed to get ready to come to the hospital, and work was next to let them know that Benjamin would be missing his 130 meeting, and that I wouldn't be coming in at 3 either.
1230pm: I'm all checked in, laying in my hospital bed, and just barely starting to feel contractions (they thought this was odd). Because my water had technically broken at 430 that morning they start me on antibiotics, fluids (to lower mine and Natalie's heart rates), and pitocin, to get the contractions going. (note: I am consulting the text messages that my big sister Melanie and I were writing back and forth to make sure I have the times accurate.....I love texting)
230pm: After having contractions for 2 hours, and feeling like I wanted to die, they give me the epidural. We found out later that the contractions I was feeling were really pathetic, I'm not sad about that.
245pm: Nurse #1 checks me and I'm only at 2cm.
320pm: Dr. C-Section (you can know see where this is headed) checks me and I'm at 3cm.
After I got the epidural Benjamin and I really were just sitting around and watching ESPN. It was about as calm and non exciting as you can imagine.

330pm: Mother-in-law arrives with food for Benjamin and immediately picks up on picture duty.
520pm: I'm still a 3, nurse #2, and Dr. C-Section have expressed concern that my contractions are consistent, at every 2 minutes, but really very wimpy. I think one of the times that she had come in to look at the monitors she had let us know that although Natalie's vitals had improved, she still was thinking a c-section could be inevitable, and just to keep it in mind in case I didn't really start to progress.
655pm: Dr. C-section comes back in and checks me again. I'm still only a 3 and Natalie's head has started to swell. She was trying to get out, but I was not cooperating. Since my water had broken more than 14 hours previous to this she didn't want to wait longer and then end up doing the surgery anyway because of more emergent and dangerous circumstances. I had prepared myself throughout this pregnancy for the possibility of this happening. I think I just new somehow that this is how it would go....and my lack of desire to "PUSH PUSH PUSH" probably had something to do with it. Anyway, Benjamin and I felt very comfortable with the doctors decision and just wanted Natalie to be healthy.
720pm: After having massive amounts of drugs pumped into me they wheel me out of labor and delivery, and into the operating room.
In the meantime Benjamin was getting prepared, in a sweet blue smurf suit, and I'm being all cleaned up and prepped for surgery. 740pm: I'm all cut open, and they finally let Benjamin walk into the ALL BLUE ROOM and instruct him that he "can't touch anything that's blue".
742pm: NATALIE JAN EDGELL IS BORN. WEIGHING IN AT 7LBS. 7OZ. AND MEASURING 19 AND 3/4 IN. LONG. As Dr. C-Section is pulling her out she comments that its a good thing I had her 3 weeks early because she would surely have been GIANT had she gone all the way to the end. If my body couldn't kick into gear to get a 7lb. baby out...I'm sure it wouldn't have done much better with a 10lb. one. Natalie had two main reasons for coming early though...1. She wanted to be here for the start of the MLS season (VAMOS UNITED!) 2. She didn't think it was fair that we were going to be having a shower in her honor and not have her in attendance.


Post-operatively everything couldn't have gone smoother. Benjamin instantly became the proud daddy, and I couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect Natalie was.
We stayed in the hospital for the next day and a half, received lots of visitors, and became increasingly more attached to our new baby.
On Saturday morning Dr.Water-breaker was back and he let us go home a whole day early from the hospital.
Since being home I have had little to no pain and Natalie just eats, sleeps, poops.

Now the really good pictures that you so richly deserve after making it through this ENTIRE inaugural post.