Well, so much has happened since my last post, it's hard to know where to begin. Laela was born on July 13. I went in to be induced, and they discovered I was already in labor, so they just had to break my water. I went from 7:30 am to about 11:30 with no drugs, but then I tried a narcotic to help me sleep. It started to help, so Jason left to get something to eat, and I was alone. That was when it stopped working, and the contractions started to get really bad. I have to say, everyone told me that laying down is the worst possible feeling when in labor, and that I would want to walk around. Since I had problems with my heart rate during the pregnancy, the doctor wanted me on the monitors all the time. None of the mobile monitors was available, so I was in bed the whole time. I started to panic at around noon, and realized that either I was going to die, or I was going to get an epidural. I went in not having any expectations about whether I would use pain medication or not, and I think that worked well. I made it to 5 centimeters, which, considering my low pain tolerance, was more than I could have hoped for. While we were waiting for the epidural, I had to go to the bathroom. I have to say that being on my feet was the WORST feeling I've ever experienced, and I couldn't wait to get back into bed. The anesthesiologist did a great job on the epidural, and I could still feel my legs the whole time, but none of the pain. I have to say that that was probably the greatest feeling I've ever experienced, it was so cool and relaxing, and I felt like myself again. After about 40 minutes of pushing, Laela was born at 8:28 that night. We both developed fevers during the labor, and her heart rate started to go up at the end, but luckily she was fine. Honestly the labor couldn't have gone any better, but I can't imagine having a baby naturally. Seriously, I can't imagine going another 8 hours with it getting worse and worse, it boggles my mind haha.

Today was our final day of having company, after six weeks. Having people here to help was a life saver, but I'm glad it's just the three of us now (or seven of us, including furry family members). All in all, our first month of parenthood has been a lot easier than I thought. She sleeps fairly well, though she does eat a lot (she's kind of a fatty haha). She has acid reflux, so she's on medication, which helps somewhat, but she still spits up a lot. Now that she's awake more during the day, she has become a bit more fussy, but she's also interacting more too. Our next step is to become more confident with taking her places. I'm going to follow the lead of many parents (and bloggers) before me and take a picture of her every month to see how she changes. I'm not sure how long I'm going to do it just yet, but I figure it will be at least a year. I'm going to put her with the stuffed rabbit Jason got her for size comparison. Above is her first month's picture.