Alyvia Capri Darling

Alyvia was born March 30th 2009. Seems that this little one had gotten quite comfortable growing in my belly. The daily countdown began around 4 months along, and every day past my due date of March 20th seemed more like a year. Finally, two days before my scheduled induction, I felt the very first flutter of a contraction! I was in denial. "Maybe I ate too much spaghetti..." But I knew this must be "it". I hadn't experienced even a hint of a contraction through my entire pregnancy, until now. I had the hospital bag packed for weeks. A list of things to grab before we left, at this point completely memorized from reading it over and over. I was afraid that if I mentioned this probable beginning of labor, it would stop. Or maybe just terrified that this fantasy inside my belly was soon to become a reality. I silently timed each contraction for two hours. When the pain became rather intense, I finally spoke up and said, "Ok, I think it's time!"

Troy immediately jumped into action. Put the dogs in their kennels, grabbed the hospital bag, looked for the list that had been growing over the past weeks. He had everything completely under control as I waited in the car praying for him to hurry!

The drive to the hospital seemed to take ages as I feverishly sent text messages, between contractions, letting friends and family know what was coming. With every bump and turn, I thought that I was going to lose it. I begged Troy to slow down, or hurry up... I couldn't decide. Once we arrived at the hospital, I was tickled to see the sign at the parking spot we had turned into. "Expecting Fathers". It was suddenly real. The next time I would get into our car, I would be a mother.

The walk into the hospital, up the elevator, and to the check in desk I had stopped to sit twice. I was sure that I wasn't going to make it. If I wasn't a blimp, I would've asked Troy to carry me! Finally, I had my hospital gown on and was ready for the first check. Heartbeat is good. Blood pressure is fine. Contractions are 1-2 minutes apart and going strong. 1 1/2 cm dilated! That's all!?! Suddenly I realized that this was just the tip of the iceberg, the beginning of a long night!

My next stop was the jacuzzi tub. The thoughts of the sweet relief of hot water and shooting jets were running through my head. I had already completely stripped down before realizing that the tub would take 10 minutes to fill up. Once in the tub, I finally felt like I could relax! A few more text messages to let people know the baby probably wouldn't be here until the next day before I got out and committed myself to the hospital bed for the next 13 hours.

The nurse asked if I would like to get an epidural. At this point, the thought of the pain from a needle going into my back was enough to force me to endure the pain and discomfort of the contractions I was facing. "Is there anything else?" I asked. The next thing I knew, the nurse was telling me to close my eyes as she was injecting something for pain relief into my IV. Within seconds, I could no longer feel the contractions! I wondered why someone would ever get an epidural if they could just have this magic medicine!? Troy had already made himself comfortable on the tiny bed that was once a chair before being unfolded. It was well past midnight.

Within an hour, I had answered my previous question. The contractions were suddenly back and in full force. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I asked the nurse if I could have more of the pain killer. This time, I didn't close my eyes like she had instructed and the room was suddenly spinning out of control. But it was ok, because again the pain was gone. "I can do this", I thought as I fell asleep. Almost exactly an hour later, I woke up to the intense pain once again. This time stronger than the last. The nurse told me I could have another injection, but that they will be less effective each time. This time the magic medicine had lost all of its power and I was ready to succumb to the dreaded epidural.

Amazingly, the epidural didn't hurt at all! It felt like a cold trickling down my back, and the pain slowly started to fade away. I can barely remember the whole ordeal. People were coming in and out of the room, nurses lifting my gown to check me, my phone vibrating away... It was nearly 3:00 a.m. and I closed my eyes for some well needed rest.


I woke up to a nurse telling me the doctor had just broken my water. My water was broken and I didn't even wake up! 5 cm I believe. Back asleep.
I woke up a few more times to throw up, and then back asleep. The last time I woke up, I had woken up crying. At first I didn't realize why I was crying...until the next contraction started. I told someone to get the nurse quick, something was wrong! I could feel the contractions. The epidural must have run out. I could kick my legs and all numbness has subsided. The nurse reassured me that the epidural was fine and that I just needed to deal with it at this point. "There must be something!" I pleaded. As I continued to sob, she told me there was one more thing we could try, but that it would cause me to not be able to feel my contractions. "I don't care!" I was practically yelling when the nurse finally said she would ask for the doctor's permission since I was getting so close to delivery. When she came back with approval I was elated! I felt like once the pain was gone, I could really focus on the task at hand. To my dismay, the injection had no effect on the pain. Not even a dent. I couldn't stop throwing up. I wondered how much more of this I could take. Then the nurse checked me again, one last time, and told me it was time to start pushing!

I was terrified! Push? How? Now? But the doctor is not here! I'm not ready! But, as I was told, I started pushing. Push. Throw up. Push. Throw up. I felt like I wasn't making any progress. Was this ever going to end? I was so exhausted that I was falling asleep in between contractions. Then the nurse told me to stop pushing until the doctor arrived. Now you're asking me to stop?! I couldn't believe what was happening. After over 2 hours of pushing with all my might, Alyvia was born March 30th at 12:58 p.m., 10 days past her due date.

At 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 in., she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! Suddenly, the last 10 months, and the last 16 hours, were a thing of the past. This was the beginning of a new life. Welcome to Mommyville.