We Welcome Tia McKenzie Norris

Saturday, December 19th, 2009 - Day 1

She has finally arrived - Tia McKenzie Norris has been born. She arrived at 1:15am weighing in at 6 lbs 8 ozs and 19 inches long. Of course going into labor, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that the contractions I was feeling about 3:30pm yesterday were killer for me and I was in some major pain. They gave me the epidural about an hour or so into arriving at the hospital which was AWESOME! I didn't feel any contractions after that. I have never had an IV or even been to the hospital for anything so all the needles I'd soon would be facing were not ideal. But the IV wasn't too bad once they got it started and the epidural didn't hurt although the pain medicine that they gave to numb sure did hurt for a bit. The catheter didn't hurt at all. I was thinking this wasn't so bad after all. Our moms were both in the room with us up until they wanted me to start pushing. We watched TV and talked. I was 3 cm when I arrived at 50% effaced. By 6pm, I was 6 cm. Then by 10pm I was 8 cm dilated and 80% effaced and by midnight I was 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced and it was time to start pushing.

I guess I thought this part of labor would be a zillion nurses/doctors in the room with Chris is his sterile blue scrubs outfit. Actually, it was just Chris and the nurse having me push at every contraction. Pushing was really hard, but it felt like I was with my personal trainer and he was having me do more than my body can handle. It didn't hurt or anything like that, but the pressure felt like 'a big turd was on its way' (quoted by my friend Angela). I was cracking jokes all night and we just had fun with the entire process. About 45 minutes into pushing, I was thinking to myself 'I hope I don't have to push for hours like some women'. My doc arrived when she was about to crown and he said give me one big push and there she appeared. They were all telling me that I was really strong and if I wanted to go natural, I really could have BUT let me tell you - the epidural rocked! They were also saying that only having to push for an hour is rare too. I was happy. When it was all said and done with - it isn't as bad as some stories I have heard. To each delivery, a different story - so we'll see about my next time around. BUT the worst part of the entire thing for me were the contractions early on. I had been having contractions for a while and just last night I started feeling them in my sleep, but they didn't hurt - they were just annoying. But the contractions that started at 3:30ish were excruciating - tears on the corners of my eyes, me saying 'oh god' and just the feeling of seizure like cramps - ouch! Everything else wasn't so bad.

I was really happy Tia came on her own. We were set to be induced Monday morning at 8:00am, but having her come on her own was a shorter process and just one day before her due date. She is so precious and I just can't stop looking at her. She is a teeny weeny thing and to me, she looks like Chris. She is beautiful and I'm sooooo lucky to have her here now.