And so it began...

AG sent me this picture today appropriately entitled "And so it began." This is one of many pictures taken by our doula during the 4 excruciating days of my labor. We are exhausted in a hotel room haven gone through 12 hours of labor - driving to Walnut Creek Kaiser because SF was full, my contractions were 2 - 4 minutes apart and upon getting to the clinic, was told that we were only 1% dilated. It was heart breaking. I was 95% effaced but Aesha's head was stuck (we find out later) and didn't hit the head of the cervix, so it wouldn't dilate.

I had a sneaky suspicion she was stuck - and told my doula. We spent the rest of the day in the hotel room recovering, and when the contractions started increasing in strength again, tried all we could to push Aesha out of her position. It was extremely painful to do this. I wished I would have gone to a chiropractor or someone to help more had I known the situation.

Long story short, she came out 3 days later via a cesarean and a vacuum and our lives haven't been the same. Last night AG was on baby duty because I hadn't slept for the last week. Which meant that AG got 45 minutes of sleep at one given time. No wonder we are all still sick and not recovering well. But we would rather have last night than another night like the one here...

Someday, she will have a child of her own and I get to be the doting grandmother and give the baby back after 11pm. And I will chuckle quietly with evil glee to see her in the same state as me.