We Had a Baby, Shout Hurray!

So yesterday I went in for my dr appointment and the dr asked me if I wanted to be induced that day. I said yes, of course. I was 2 days over my due date and the baby was measuring really small so he was a little worried about her. He said I was dilated to a one but really thick. I was super nervous about being induced because of how long it took with Archimedes, but I was also sick of being pregnant (selfish, I know). So he said that he would have me go to the hospital that night at 9 and he would have the nurse use cytotec to try to dilate and thin my cervix. Cytotec is what the dr used last time and it did not work at all. I told him that, but he still wanted to try it first. The plan was to use cytotec at 10 and again at 2 and then start me on pit at 730 AM. So we went back to Boardman (about an hour from the drs) and I got a blessing and we packed our stuff. Then, we went to the hospital and they gave me the cytotec. The first dose worked. It was amazing. I was so nervous about it not working but it worked really well. At 2, I was about a 3 and was having really strong contractions so the nurse didn't place another pill. I had a few doses of pain medication during the night because I'm a wuss. In the morning, I was still about a 3, but I had thinned out pretty good. So they started me on pitocin. At about 10 I decided I wanted an epidural. I have to say that epidurals are AMAZING. seriously. Anyway, when I got the epidural I was a 4 and was still thinning out. I spent the rest of the day in almost no pain at all. About 3, I started feeling the contractions again and the nurse checked me and said I was at an 8. So she let the dr know. The dr came after he was done with his patients, about 415. By that time, I was at a 10. He broke my water and about 10 minutes later, I started pushing. It was super laid back, wish I didn't like a whole lot.. I think I would have liked it better if the nurses would have been like... "Come on.. push harder.. you can do it.." Instead they were super chill. Which was good too. We watched that 70s show between contractions (they were like 5 minutes apart which is a long time when there are 4 people just waiting for you to be able to push) I probably pushed for 7 contractions and then we had a baby! The dr thought for sure that she would be low 7 or high 6 pounds, even after he looked at her he thought that. But, when they put her on the scale it turned out she was 8 pounds! So much for being worried about her not growing! The labor was so nice and easy and SO much better than last time. And, I'm hardly in any pain now. I had to get a few stitches, but I feel really really good. We'll see how I feel in the morning... She is so pretty and perfect except for a few scratches. She nursed for like 2 hours right after she was born and would get mad if I tried to stop nursing. Now, she is sleeping right next to me like a baby :) Her first name is Aika, we still haven't decided on a middle name... right now the runners up are Dawn or Rose. My favorite is Aika Dawn. Here is our first family picture... hopefully I'll get more pictures soon. 

Archimedes was pretty impressed with her. He just kept staring at her and then he would smile and laugh and look at me or Andre. I don't know that he knows what is going on, but he knows that she is super important I think. We are very grateful to be able to add to our little family, and very grateful that Andre's mom has been able to watch Archimedes for us. My mother is coming up here soon and we are super grateful for that as well :)