oh my goodness!!!! i had a baby!!!!
it still doesnt feel real!!!!!
she is amazing and beautiful and i cant take it! i just stare at her for long periods of time!!
its really awesome how it all happened. we were totally blessed by a short labor and a wonderful doctor! she wasnt my current doctor but just one who was on call that day. but she was wonderful! jsut who i needed to be there.
so i was sitting on the toilet and i heard a gush of fluid... i said to justin... umm i think my water just broke.... but we were both like no way, this has got to be just false labor.... but we will call the doctor anyways. (your water breaking doesnt necessarily mean you will go into labor) so i called her. oh and earlier that mornign i had not felt her move at all... that was weird. she is very active every morning!
so we called the doctor.... she said id better come in just to check on me.... even though i had no other signs besides my water breaking.... so i thought hey ill take a shower... there is no rush to get there right.... well in the shower i started having contractions about 2 minutes apart..... i still thought this must be false labor... i had heard so many people say that that happens a lot... where you think you are in labor but its not really..... but the contractions kept getting more intense and closer together.... justin was running around throwing stuff into a bag for the hospital just in case this was it.... so we finally get into the car and they are coming like crazy!!! oh ya and during all this my water is still trickling down my leg...... felt like i was constantly peeing my pants(= it was funny. so we got there and they threw me into one of those lovely gowns,  and checked to see how far i was dialated. i was already at 5!!! half way there!!!
in one of my blog entries i mentioned how i was terrified to get an epidural. well i ended up getting one. when we got to the hospital i was at 5 centimeters. so i knew that the pain was only going to be 10 times worse by the time i gave birth. i figured i would end up getting an epidural, but was hoping i wouldnt panic! so the doctor checked me a little later and i was at 8 centimeters. by that point the contractions were so intense, i had them send for an epidural. when they were puting it in, the guy hit a nerve and it felt like electricity shot through my left side. my leg was going numb and was tingly... kinda like hitting your funny bone. it freaked me out... i was in the middle of a contraction.. the man goes.... ummm does that feel weird... i said yes!! he said we are going to have to take it out becasue i hit a nerve!!!! which is exactly why i was so panicked in the beginning to get the epidural.... afraid of going paralyzed! i wasnt necessarily afraid of the pain as i was the chances of having permanent damage. but he successfully put it in another spot... not long after i started to notice the pain was lessening. it wasnt totally gone though. which was fine since i really wanted to feel her come out of me! so i still felt all of the contractions after that and the pushing.... but it was slightly duller than the intense miserible 8 centimeter contractions i had been having!!! so it was no problem! honestly it felt like i was in labor for about 10 mintues. i thought that it would feel like forever! i only pushed for about 20 minutes or so..... then she popped out, it was cool to feel her exit my body! they immediately threw her onto my chest.... i started balling and it was the first time i had seen justin cry at all (= it was so weird! one minute you are pregnant with a baby and the next shes laying on your chest crying! so surreal!!!! i like exclamation points.. can you tell? (=
justin was an amazing coach during it all! he didnt necesarily know what to do, but he did all he could and wasnt afraid! and i wasnt anxious at all... which was bizarre i thought i would be freaking out... worried about all sorts of things, but i was a little occupied with the contractioms to really worry.
so here she is little dahlia jade!!!! id do it all over again for sure!!!!!

 Dahlia's Jaundice level was up to 20 on Saturday, level 30 can cause brain damage. Today we had it checked again and she's down to 14, which is really good. We don't have to put her on the lights anymore, which means more snuggle time.
    More good news today. She now weighs 6# 4oz, which is just below her birth weight. We don't have to feed her quite as often now, and that means more sleep and rest for us! If she keeps gaining weight we may have to buy her a baby treadmill.