The Princess Has Arrived

Ashlyn Elizabeth Gossett has finally arrived! She was born Thursday, September 16 at 3:49 pm. She was 7 lbs 13oz and 21 1/4 inches long. I was actually supposed to be induced on the 16th, but I started having contractions late Wed night so I just didn't show up for my induction. Instead, at 0600 on Thursday morning Mike and I started walking. We walked at Wal Mart, Sams, Target, and finally Grapevine Mills. We walked so much we were both exhausted and our legs ached. We went home around noon and the contractions completely stopped(they had been about 5-7 minutes apart). I got worried so we decided to go to the hospital to see what was wrong. I felt silly going in since I was no longer actually contracting, but I wanted to see what was going on. My dr. came in and checked me. I was dilated to 6 cm. He broke my water at 2 pm to get the contractions to start again. I started contracting again at 2:30 and delivered at 3:49. This may not seem like a long time, but it felt like an eternity due to my very bad decision to forgo having an epidural. I don't know what possessed me to have natural childbirth since I had never really even thought about it until that moment at the hospital. I guess I was hormonal and thinking it was my last chance to experience natural childbirth since she will definitely be our last baby. It was the worst decision I have ever made and I realized that when it was too late to get an epidural. It is a really bad feeling when you realize there is no turning back and you are going to have to just deal with the pain. I will say I pushed her out quickly(I wanted her out!) and once she was out the pain stopped. If I had it to do over again, I would get the epidural! Here are some pics of our angel.