Tova Karin is here (long post)

I know I didn't post very much but I wanted to share my birth story. I had a doctor appointment on Monday but hadn't made any progress since the last week (1-2 cm dilated). My OB scheduled me for an induction on Thursday but we joked that as soon as she scheduled it I would go into labor naturally. That night at 11 pm, I was asleep in bed and woke up in a start as my water broke. Not just broke... grossly ruptured. It was like in the movies with the giant gush which I was not expecting since everyone had told me that it would be more like a slow leak. DH had just taken a benadryl to help him sleep so I had to rouse him. He started running around to pack the bag for the hospital while I just stood in the bathtub leaking everywhere. 

 We got to the hospital around 12:15 am (Tuesday). The nurses took one look at me leaking everywhere and soaking everything in my path and just admitted me on the spot. Contractions started around 1 am and got progressively more intense and frequent. I was starting to be in a good amount of pain and since the doctor wanted to start me on pitocin, I had an epidural around 4:30 am and they started the pitocin. I tried to sleep but couldn't even though I was very comfortable once the epidural kicked in. 

 I was checked at 11:45 am and was disappointed that I was only 4.5 cm. DH went to go get himself some food at the hospital cafeteria. He was only gone about 15-20 mins when all of sudden , I started feeling a lot of pressure. I called for the nurses and everyone was shocked that I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. It was very difficult to push. I had trouble figuring out how to direct the pushing correctly.

After 2 hrs of pushing and almost having a breakdown from the exhaustion and breakthrough pain, a new doctor came on the floor. She ordered me more pain medication, had me rest through a few contractions, and then was the first person to actually explain to me how to push in a way that made sense. She focused me and told me I was going to push the baby out within 1 more hour. Almost 1 hour later, I gave a final push and welcomed my daughter Tova Karin. She was 8 lbs 12.2 oz and 21.5 inches long! Everyone had thought I had been measuring small the whole pregnancy so her size was a shock to everyone. The other big surprise was that she was born on my birthday! What a wonderful birthday present!