She's here and beautiful!

Reagan Lee Kenley was born December 18, 2008 at 8:06 p.m. She is beautiful with a full head of black hair!

Scott and I arrived at the hospital at 5:15 am and by 6 I was hooked up and the pitocin started. I labored from 6 am to 12 pm and then asked for an epidural. I expected that she'd be here by 2 at the latest. I was wrong! :)

I stalled out at a 6 around 2 pm. Needless to say my progress hadn't been stellar up to that point. Baby looked great the whole time - good heartbeat and showed no signs of distress.

Around 3:30 - I started getting a little nervous. Things just didn't feel right and I began to accept that we might be looking at a c-section. Around 5:30 our nurse said that our chances of having a natural delivery were not looking good. I cried. :) I was so tired and just ready to be done. We agreed to the c-section and thought that we'd be back in the OR by 6.

At 6, almost on the dot, my epidural completely wore off. I had made it to an 8 and labored like that for an hour. That 60 minutes taught me a lot - mostly that I'll never labor at an 8 without medication again. Killer - horrible - terrible pain.

At 7 the nurse came back in and found a very crabby patient. She tried to start some more meds, but they didn't work. Our doctor came in around 7:30 and we made the final decision to go for the c-section. Apparently he'd given me the extra hour and a half to see if I could progress on my own - when that didn't happen our decision was clear.

I cried again. Terrified of the c-section I asked for 10 minutes alone with Scott before they took me back. The nurses and dr left and Scott prayed. I was still scared, but not doing the full face cry thing anymore.

They wheeled my back to the OR and started some strong drugs. They gave them to me through my epidural site. The only hard part of this was that it left me feeling like someone was sitting on my chest and gave the illusion that I couldn't breathe. I pulled out every counseling trick I know to calm anxiety. Some of it worked. :) I had three episodes of throwing up from the medication on my empty stomach, but nothing outside of that.

About 30 minutes into the c-section we heard this beautiful, strong cry come from our daughter. She was 8 lbs 3 oz, pink, healthy - a perfect moment.

I cried.

I cried from exhaustion, excitement. It was such a release of emotion.

Scott got to weigh her and go for her first bath. All firsts for him. When Sam was born he was whisked away to the NICU without us even holding him. So - this moment was extra sweet for Sam - He played the proud Daddy role and got some great pics with the nurses and drs. I was so excited for him. One memory just so we don't forget - at the hospital when a new baby is born the dad pushes a button that plays a lullaby throughout the hospital to announce the birth. With Sam there was too much going on and he never got to push it. I cried when I heard that lullaby playing. Such a small thing - but so meaningful to us.

Reagan's doing great. I can't believe we're a family of 4!!!! Parents to two kiddos. Well, right now very sleep deprived, excited parents.