40 hours of labor = LOVE

so the name of my blog, "dirty laundry," has taken on a whole new meaning. why you ask? well because that is my life now... dirty baby laundry! if it's not spit up, then it's poop. if it's not poop, then it's spit up. :) i love my girl though, so it's ok.

wait karly... did you mean 14 hours of labor instead of 40? cause 40 hours would be insane, right? um, yes, right... it would be insane, but that is the honest truth... i was in labor with peanut for 40, count them, 40 hours.

i don't remember all the details, and i won't bore you, but it was not pleasant. we knew that we wanted Laela on her due date of January 11, 2011... not only because it's a cool date, but because it is my Grandma Sally's birthday. My doctor said we could induce, so we did. I went to the hospital at 3 am on the 10th, they started inducing me around 4 am, and at 8:10 pm on the 11th, little Laela Carolina Barksdale came into the world. it was not an easy path for my sweet girl. we were a little afraid we were going to have to end up with a c-section. i got stuck at 5 cm and then again at 8 cm.... at 8 she was also face up and not dropping at all, and i was given an hour before the doctor was going to do a c-section. we prayed and prayed for the next 45 minutes or so, and all of a sudden i felt her flip over. when the doctor came in 15 minutes later to check i was completely dilated, she had flipped over, but she still hadn't dropped far enough, so i was given another hour... but only because laela was a champ through it all and never went into distress on the monitors. more prayers were said, and when she came back an hour later laela had dropped a little bit. not all the way, but enough that the doctor was going to let me push to see if she would come out... if not, c-section it was. i pushed for 45 minutes, and out she came. 8 lbs 11 oz, 20 1/2 inches. it was a little nerve wracking the first few minutes because she wouldn't cry. she was a little blue because she had inhaled a bunch of fluid as she was coming out so they had to suction that out. once they did, she still didn't cry... just a couple yelps and that was that.

she was beautiful and just perfect.... definitely worth the 40 hours. :)

well, i'll leave it here for now and post more later about how the last seven weeks has gone... it's had its ups and downs for sure, but it's been well worth it