Arrival

Melissa and I were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6AM. We woke up early, got in the car and not unlike a well oiled machine, we arrived early. For those of you that know us, this is an event in and of itself.

We sat in the emergency waiting room for 30 minutes after being told that we would be escorted to the delivery area of the hospital. It seems as if there was a slight snafu in communication as a second call was put to the delivery floor and someone was quickly dispatched to bring us up. At least I got to watch an episode of Pokemon while waiting.

As soon as we made it in Melissa was hooked up with an IVs with standard fluids and Pitocin. A little less than an hour later, our Doc showed up and broke Melissa's bag of waters.

She's currently sitting here calmly watching the monitor intently... always the data driven person.

On a couple of side notes, we told our nurse (Michelle) about the blog and the fan fare we've created around our doc and his incredible mustache. She encouraged us to show him. After breaking Melissa's bag of waters, I showed him the blog and he loved it. He then escorted about half of the nursing staff into our room to have them check it out. Nice job Ryan! I think he may want to hire you out to re-vamp his website.

Sorry for the lack of images on this post. There's not a whole hell of a lot to take pictures of here at the hospital. No sculptures, no cool logos or anything. Snoozeville as far as good things to decorate the post with.

As I type, the contractions the become more frequent and a lot more intense since breaking the bag of waters.

I'm amazed at how fast things are happening. All I can say is wow!

More to follow shortly.

Update: 11:30 AM. Melissa slugged out 3 hours of labor. With the shot of Pitocin her contractions were starting to stack one upon the other and the pain was at a level that was too much for her, or any other human being. The anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. As for now, she's feeling much better.

Update 6:03 PM. Melissa is currently 6-7 cm dilated. The nursing staff has done a great job at monitoring her progress as well as Violet's. As of right now, Melissa is wearing an oxygen mask to help stimulate and "wake" Violet up a little. After another examination, the nurse suggested that Violet might be in the neighborhood of 9lbs and that her head is peeking through a little and is cone-shaped. If Violet enters the world looking for Beldar and craving chicken embryos, the world is in trouble.

"Ghrmfrerm mmehrhmph cmerhhph"
Translation: Get that ****'n camera out of my face.

Update: 8:54 PM. Epidural started to wear off and the pain of the contractions came back in full force. Epidural re-administered. After Melissa became a little more comfortable, our doc came in and gave her another exam. He told us that the next step in the process is pushing. She's 10cm dilated and ready to force Violet out of her comfy, warm environment. The pain Melissa was having seemed to take the air out of the room for me. Violet seems to be facing outward instead of the correct or favorable position. Here's to hoping that Violet proves to be a little more agreeable when she's actually with us and growing up, and not such a obstinate little imp she's being now in utero.

Tensions are high and patience is low. Just a little longer and we'll be golden.