Kaydriana is here!

Mother's Day I was awaken by Tim bearing gifts from him and our unborn daughter. I was bummed that Kaydriana wasn't here before Mother's Day but daddy did a good job surprising me with the new Reebok Easy Tone sneakers and a beautiful Karen Kane dress (that I could wear that day and post pregnancy).
I woke up with period like cramps that went on all day. We had brunch with Tim's family at his sisters and had to ask him to take bumps and turns lightly because they kind of hurt.
After we got home I decided to drive 45 minutes to Marysville to surprise my mom at work. I had some stronger waves of cramps, but I was determined so I made the trek. I got home about 5pm and definitely knew I was feeling contractions, but with as many ups and downs we had over the past few days I didn't want to get too excited. Around 6 I pulled up Contraction Master online and started to time my contractions. They were anywhere from 7-14 minutes a part. I continued to track them, Tim went to bed around 7 and they were getting stronger and closer. I kept telling myself they would stop. At 10 I went to lay in bed to try and sleep. I even set my alarm for work the next morning. In about 20 minutes I had 4 contractions. So I woke up, came down stairs and grabbed my birthing ball. At 11:15 I called Labor and Delivery and told them what I was experiencing. They said if I really wanted to come in I could but if I was doing ok at home I should stay home for as long as I could. So I kept laboring by myself. At 1230am I couldn't do it by myself anymore so I woke Tim up and he did such a great job rubbing my back through my contractions. Finally at 145am I couldn't take it anymore. I called the hospital and told them I was coming.
We get to the hospital and they bring us in the "staging" room where they plan to monitor me for at least an hour before admitting me to see if I'm really that close to labor. I was still only a good 2cm, but because it was a slow night and I was Group B Strep positive they decided to admit me. Tim and I were so relieved!
So we get into our LD room, I'm handling the contractions ok, I've got the birthing ball and leaning over it through contractions. We also walked the halls stopping to use the rails as contractions came.
About 6am the nurse comes in and checks me and I'm about 3cm. She says that I have some decisions to make. I didn't want an epidural until I was 4-5 cm, however the anesthesiologist has a c-section scheduled for 730 so I could either get the epidural before or wait 1.5-2 hours after the c-section. Who knew what I'd be feeling 2 hours from then but I decided to wait until 7am to see how I dilated. At 7 Dr. Graham comes in and I'm 3.5-4cm and she is going to break my water. So I decided to get the epidural.
Then sleep... blissful sleep! I had already been awake for 24 hours. I slept hard for about 2 hours and then dozed through out the day. At 3pm the nurse checks me and I'm about 6-7cm dilated so she thinks it won't be long until I'll get to start pushing. However, they think that Kaydriana is sunny side up, meaning she is not going to be coming out vaginally if she doesn't turn around given her size. Not what I wanted to hear. During this time I'm feeling my contractions and need a top off of my epidural. I'll never forget, we were watching Oprah and a girl got the "Harpo Hook up" and got to meet Justin Timberlake. :) Then it's pushing time. Dr. Graham attempted to turn Kaydriana a bit in hopes that with pushing she'll continue to turn. I start pushing while on my back and I'm really not feeling I'm producing results. About 30-40 min into it I get to lay on my left side. When I start feeling a contraction coming on I grab my right leg, Tim grabs my right foot and I push hard for 10 seconds/3 times during each contraction.
I'm feeling the contractions enough where I have to try and breath through them because they are so painful.
I go back onto my back to finish pushing. Dr Graham comes in and is surprised how well my pushing is going and that Kaydriana is cresting. Tim is taking pictures since I can't see whats going on. Things progress and her head is out and Dr Graham tells me to stop pushing - oh wow was that painful!!! A few moments later Dr Graham says I just have one contraction to push and she'll be out so I push with all of my might and all of sudden a huge feeling of relief as she is taken out of my body. I just see a hand flying and her being taken away. Everything is a whirlwind. I'm crying and shaking and Tim is watching our daughter be wiped off. They bring her over to me, remove the top of my gown and I get to hold her skin to skin. I'm getting teary eyed just reliving that amazing moment. I get to lay there like that for 15 minutes or so while Tim is calling our parents and Dr Graham is stitching me up and working on getting the placenta out.
Kaydriana was born 5:42 PM, 9lbs and 2oz, 21.5 inches long. Over 24 hours of labor and about 1.5 hours of pushing...
Wow is all I can say. Tim says it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. I don't know if labor was what I expected, but becoming parents and meeting Kaydriana was far more amazing than I ever thought possible! We are so in love!