It's about friggin' time

I'm back, folks!

Now was that a long hiatus or what?? Of course, I'm sure you can all appreciate and understand WHY I took so darn long to get back to blogging. My little squishy baby is quite demanding, yo! She's just lucky she's so cute.

Anywho. So what's been going on since I last left you? Well. For anyone who hasn't heard me blather on about the full birth story (without the gory details, of course) - here it is.

On Wednesday night - February the 3rd - I went out for dinner with two friends. As we were chatting, one of my friends was surprised to hear I hadn't packed my hospital bag yet.

"I have loads of time still! I have 2 weeks off work before my due date." I assured her. "Besides, even if she comes early, I'll still have time. In fact, I could go into labour tomorrow and I'd still have lots of time to pack my bag."

Now there's some powerful foreshadowing for you, folks.

The next morning, my alarm went off at 6am. And as I got out of bed, I felt some sort of gush of liquid come out from my nether regions. (That's as gory as I'll get - I promise).

Since it was still 2 weeks until my due date (2 weeks and 2 days to be exact) and since only like 8% of pregnant women have their water break on their own, I just figured I had peed myself. (Not totally unlikely during my pregnancy. Definitely not the first time - that's all I'll say.)

When the trickling down my leg didn't stop, I figured it couldn't be pee. But Andrew and I both decided that even if it was the start of labour, we STILL had loads of time. So he went to work. And I called my Mom. And then my midwife.

My midwife told me to just relax, get some sleep, spend some time resting in bed - and only to call her back if my contractions are close together or if I can't feel the baby move in my tummy anymore.

Of course, as soon as she said that - I started obsessing about feeling no movement.

At the same time, my contractions had started and were coming fast and hard.

So I called my midwife back and she told me to come to the hospital. At this point, I realized I did NOT have loads of time to pack my hospital bag.

So I called Andrew to come home, ran around my room finding things to throw in my bag, and tried to ignore the trickling of water soaking my underpants and the painful, painful contractions.

Labour. It's glamorous.

Anyway. So we got to the hospital at 10:30am. My midwife checked the baby. (She was doing just fine. She was quite happy, actually.) And she told me I was already 3cm dilated, so I should probably stay at the hospital.

I wasn't leaving until I had a baby.

(Oh. My. God.)

Then I spent the next hour and a bit walking around the halls, trying to get through the intense contraction pain. I even sat in the shower in my labour room. Nothing quite did the trick though (the pain of contractions? Yeah - it's the WORST PAIN EVER.) So I finally asked for the epidural.

I got my lovely, lovely epidural when I was around 6cm dilated. And within an hour, I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. (It was at that moment that I thought to myself "Holy crap. I really have to be ready now. She's coming. Am I ready? Holy crap.") (Why I waited until I had to start pushing to consider if I was ready to have a baby or not is beyond me. But hey - I went with it.)

So I pushed for just over 2 hours and out came Anna at 5:40pm.

With a giant, giant cone head.

But she was still the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Andrew and I cried a little and then spent the next hour or so staring at her in awe.

Ever since then, our entire world has been about Anna. Everything I do, and all my energy each day, goes towards Mothering this little adorable being.

And in return - she amazes me. With her gorgeous little lips. Her cute nose. The funny faces she makes. Her sweet little chubby cheeks. Her pudgy thighs and wrists. The sounds she makes. The way she stretches. The look on her face when we bathe her. And the way she looks happy and drunk on milk right after nursing.

Everything about her is simply amazing.

I'm not going to lie and say it's been easy. I've spent my fair share of time stressed out and crying. I've never been so exhausted in my life. And I hate that my house is dirty and I can't shower until around 3 or 4pm most days. I've had to comb baby puke out of my hair more than once. And it's really, really hard to get a decent meal.

All of this while caring for a baby who doesn't really do anything except eat, poo and sleep.

But it's so worth it. Especially on days like today. When she looked up at my face and smiled a huge, gummy grin for the very first time.

Yep. It's all so very worth it.