It's about time!! NOW INTRODUCING:

Baby Gina diNatale!!!!



Our little Angel Cake came into the world on September 3rd at 12:26am (missing Ness and Roger's anniversary by a hair!). She weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces, and was a gorgeous 21 inches long.

Now I wasn't planning on telling her birth story, but I've had a couple requests (LMAO!!!) so I'll share. As you all know, I was scheduled to be induced on September 2nd, 5 days early due to Angel Cake's size, my extreme hip pain, and a history of being late. I had the 4th morning slot, which meant that they could call me technically anytime between 4:30am (the 1st slot, so not likely) and 2pm (the latest time for the 4th slot). We had planned on sending the boys off to school, then coming to get them when the hospital called. My labors generally go pretty quickly, so I figured Angel Cake would make her appearance sooner rather than later. I couldn't have imagined how wrong I was.



6am, I'm awakened by my cell phone, although I missed the call. The message was from the hospital, telling me that they were ready, and I could show up anytime between 7:30-8am. Hearing those words, my stomach felt like it was up in my throat. I woke Big Boss Man, made some coffee, and tried to settle my nerves (ya know, coffee does wonders for that). I called Mom, since she was supposed to meet us at our house at 9am, and she'd have to be earlier than that now...I think she was as anxious as I was, for she was up and would be ready to go with just some small adjustments. When she arrived, off we went, stopping by McDonalds for breakfast burritos, hash browns, and other such nonsense. This would, after all, be the last meal I'd be eating, as only clear liquids are allowed once induction starts, and even those are limited to 8 ounces an hour. And there's nothing I love more than McD's breakfasts...seriously...I'm a weirdo.



Anyhoo...we arrived at the hospital and made it up to Labor and Delivery and got things rolling, albeit a few minutes late. I think meds were introduced around 9am? The IV stick hurt like a word I can't say, and once the pitocin was loaded up, contractions started, slowly at first, then increasing in both strength and frequency, as is expected. Time frames from then on get a little sketchy, for painfully obvious reasons.



Somewhere around 5 to 6 centimeters, I lost it. I'd been stuck there for awhile, even though contractions were coming about every 3 minutes, and coming with a vengeance. Somewhere in there my sister had arrived with her girls, my brother had also come down for the show, my mom and The Boys were still there...everyone eagerly awaiting a sweet wailing sound from the waiting room. BBM was excellent, leaving only to get some air every little while, even though the mere thought of hospitals makes him want to rent his garments.



Now as most everyone knows, simply because I'm so vocal about it, I am very anti-epidural. Well, wait...I'm anti-anything near my spine, whether it's an epidural, spinal tap, etc. So I think everyone was shocked when I asked what my options were as far as pain relief (although I tried to wait until only the nurse and I were in the room). After much deliberation, a few more contractions that measured around 85 on that scale of 100, and a short video required before epidurals (that I hadn't watched earlier because "I was NOT getting an epidural!!"), the anesthesiologist was at my door, ready to rock and roll. And I was ready to throw up.



So, the epidural is in...the local to numb the area hurt like another word I can't say, and the epidural insertion itself made me more than just a little nauseous; he said it would take approximately 10 minutes to take effect, which was about 4-5 contractions. 3 contractions later, I was feeling it, or rather, I wasn't feeling it anymore. We wait. And wait some more.

Shift change finally comes around 11pm. At each shift change, the nurse comes in to check progress, even though the previous nurse checks right before she leaves. So Lizzie comes in and checks me, and says "I don't feel anything anymore...what the last nurse said she felt, I don't feel. So I'll go page your OB." I sighed, with thoughts of a 24 hour labor ending in a c-section floating around my exhausted mind. As I started to ask about a c-section and when that would become mandatory (they had already broken my water earlier in the induction, she stared at me and finally said, "No, the last nurse said you were at a 7. I don't feel anything anymore, meaning you're at a 10, and that's a good thing." Thank God I heard sarcasm in her voice, or at least imagined it. Was it possible? Had I gone from a 7 to a 10 in less than 40 minutes?



I looked at the clock, and it read 23:49. I told Lizzie we had to wait 11 minutes to deliver her, as my "overnights" start from the time of birth...have her before midnight, and the night counts as the first of two nights in the hospital for recovery. Have her after midnight, and you've got a whole "free day" ahead of you. No way was I spending the whole day in that bed and then getting nothing out of it!! She smiled and said "We'll make it happen, don't you worry!" BBM was still there, which was suprising, as I'd thought he'd make it about halfway and then have to step out. He was such a trooper through the whole thing, which gave me strength I hadn't had before. After paging my OB, he told the nurses to let me push until the baby crowned, and he'd be there by then. Angel Cake was still really high up, so I guess he thought that would take a fair amount of pushes.



3 pushes later, Doc arrived and said "Let's get this show on the road!" The rest of the time is sort of a blur. I pushed, pushed, and pushed some more, and then it was over...she screamed a quiet little raspy scream, they laid her on my belly for a few minutes, then BBM followed her with the nurses over to the warming bed to clean her up and weigh her. By that time, we had sent The Boys, Nana, my brother, and my sister and her girls home...we didn't know what was happening and they were all tired. So it was just us, sharing the joy of the miracle that had just occurred. She was perfection, sitting right in front of us. Apgar scores of 8 and 9, perfect color, lots of dark hair, blue eyes...just simple perfection.



After the main event, lots of things happened, most of them typical. We stared, in awe, at the baby we'd created. Lots of nurses came in and out, and I eventually moved upstairs to recovery...a nice private room, and stared at her some more. BBM went home, finally, because he had to help Nana get The Boys ready for school in the morning, and it was very late by that time. I remember sleeping eventually, but I'm not sure what time that was, maybe from 5-7am? How could I sleep with such an angel right next to me? The next day brought lots of excitement, and a few scares...stories of which I will save for later, as I have to go stare at someone for awhile...I'm feeling deprived.