3 Years Ago Today...

....was one of the happiest days of my life. It all started at dawn when we woke up early and headed for our appointment for an induction at the hospital. Our little Gwen wasn't due for another week, but two days earlier we found out that I had a condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP). Because it can sometimes lead to serious complications, doctors induce women with ICP at 38 weeks. Since I was already almost at 39 weeks, they decided to schedule me for an induction right away.

Just before leaving for the hospital.

A while after we were settled in our room, one of the nurses commented that I was being induced because of preeclampsia. I corrected her and said that I had ICP. She said, "Well, now you have preeclampsia too." Surprise!

I will just say that it was a tough morning for me. They gave me meds that made me feel downright nasty. Add that with contractions and you have pure misery.

The contractions soon became more than I could tolerate. I asked to get my epidural started pretty early on because I'm a pansy. This turned out to be a good decision because it took the anesthesiologist EIGHT tries to get the darn thing in right. He would either hit a vein, numb just my legs, numb just my right side, numb just my left side, etc. There was about a 20 minute wait time between each attempt to see if the meds would kick in, so the whole process took around 3.5 hours. If you think I am exaggerating, I have proof. Here is my back with 8 holes in it. Count em...



You may think that most women would opt to go au natural rather than endure several hours of poking all while having painful contractions. Plus, the thought of multiple needles in the spinal column might have some fearing for paralysis. Not me. I wasn't enjoying the contractions and I was willing to do just about anything to make the pain stop.

Eventually, on the eighth attempt, I finally experienced some relief from my contractions. I could still feel them, but it was nothing like before. Perfect.

It seemed like as soon as the epidural was in, it was time for pushing, but I think we had about an hour of downtime before the action began. Rick says the pushing part took about 50 minutes, but it felt like only 10-15 minutes to me. I would have never guessed that time flies while you are pushing a baby out.

At 7:42 PM, Gwendolyn Rose Bean made her debut. I thought she was beautiful and perfect in every way.

Gwen's very first photo

Our first family photo

Looking back, I realize that her face was a little swollen. At the time, I was so smitted with her, that I didn't even notice.

Puffy face

By the next morning, she was already looking better

The first night I couldn't sleep at all. I was in complete awe of Gwen and couldn't believe that she was finally here. I held her in my arms and admired her the entire night.

Maybe I'm weird, but I loved our stay at the hospital. It was so nice to not have anything to do except bond with Gwen. I also really appreciated all of the help and advice from the nurses. They had to push me out the door when it was time to go home.

Although the experience wasn't entirely easy, it was absolutely worth all of the pain and discomfort I endured. For a few weeks after the delivery, I swore I would never to do it again. Time has a sneaky way of making you forget the unpleasantness and childbirth and somehow emphasizes all the great moments. Even though I know I was miserable during labor (heck, and the last month of my pregnancy), I still look back on it as an amazing day that I would relive it again if it meant having another perfect little angel like my sweet Gwen.

These last three years with Gwen have been the most fulfilling of my life. Being Gwen's mom makes me totally and completely happy- plain and simple. She continually amazes me and I could watch her all day because everything she does is either brilliant, hilarious, or adorable. Gwen sometimes asks me what I want to be when I grow up, and my answer is always, a mommy. There is nothing else that can bring me more joy than being with Gwen.

Gwen... Happy Birthday! I love you SO much!