Life with the Allens: Welcome to the World, E!

Emerson Rose is here! She's just over two weeks old right now. We had a really wonderful experience and a relatively easy birth!

On April 7th we headed to the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women hospital at 8:00 p.m. to be induced. They wanted to induce me at 39 weeks because her growth was slowing due to a blood flow issue from the placenta. They used a balloon to help me start dilating overnight. That night was a little rough. We didn't sleep mainly because I was pretty uncomfortable.

Just starting the whole process.

High tech! The hospital is only three years old.

The delivery room.

At 9:00 a.m. on April 8th my doctor came in to check the progress. I was 5-6 cms which way exceeded their expectations. They were hoping for 3! They started me on pitocin and then said I could get my epidural. My contractions were already getting stronger at this point.

Our favorite nurse, Nirvana. She was the nurse when Emerson was actually born.

In between contractions. The only reason why I would be smiling.

Labor selfie?

And then the big boy contractions started before I got the epidural. No more smiles. Good Lord, labor pains HURT! They warn you, but you can't be prepared. I had to wear an oxygen mask to get Emerson some more good oxygen. In between contractions I would get so nauseous because of the pain that I would alternate the oxygen mask with the barf bag. That was a really rough hour and a half!! I stayed pretty friendly during the whole process with one exception. I told Blake to "Shut the hell up" because he kept telling me to relax my face and body during the contractions. I literally could not do that so he had to be put in his place. Love you honey!

This is what misery looks like.

And then I got the epidural, which is God's gift to pregnant women. I was really nervous about getting it before labor started. I hate needles and one going into my spinal area just didn't sit well with me. By the time labor was in full force that needle couldn't get in my back fast enough! It started working pretty quickly but only on my right side. I still felt a really sharp stabbing pain on the left side. So, they came back and just pumped more meds into the IV. My left side then was good and numb then, but my right side was way too numb. I couldn't wiggle my toes, do anything at all. It was such a weird feeling.

Happy as a lark after the epidural.

I was a fall risk because I was overly numb. Ha!

We then just hung out for a couple more hours, and I was none the wiser when a contraction was going on. Then the nurse decided to check the progress and she literally said, "Oh gosh, there's your baby's hair. We need to get Dr. Bobo down here now." I guess she wasn't expecting to see that.

My doctor came down to assess the situation and immediately suited up. We brought our jambox to the hospital to help the time pass by with tunes. While my doctor was getting suited up, Maroon Five's 'Sugar' was playing and both her and the nurse started dancing and my doctor said, "Man, this is a happening room"! We aim to please. :) She then came over and told me to push. I pushed twice, not even knowing if I was pushing because I couldn't feel a thing, and then there she was at 1:14 p.m. All 7 pounds 4 ounces of her perfect self. Dr. Bobo had to tell me to open my eyes mid push to see her. We were instantly in love with this sweet angel.