24 hours of labor later...We welcome Baby Max!

Ok now that I reflect back and think about my good friend Andrea trying to tell me that I should try to have a natural (drug-free) labor - I am not going to listen to anything she says going forward - cause she's crazy! Ok, I "might" have been able to do it, had I not endured 17 hours of painful contractions.

So here's the fun rundown. D and I are having a nice meal (Salmon, yum) and he makes himself a Manhattan. "This is the last Manhattan I have until you go into labor" - little did he know that I was going to START having contractions not an hour later. Bam! I labored at home for a couple of hours (thank god for a trusty Contraction timer iPhone App - we are so tech savy!) Finally the contractions were long and strong enough that we decided to head into UCSF. We got to the hospital (After picking up Bootsie on the way) around 3 am Sunday morning. At this point, my contractions had slowed down a little - perhaps from the trip and movement of getting to the hospital. They checked me and determined that I was dilated enough (4cm) to admit me. Long story short, 17 hours from the onset of my contractions, I was only at 5cm. Luckily, we had a huge labor and delivery room with a view.
As a friend in NY said, "Only in SF would you get a view like this..."

Since I was not dilating fast, they administered Pitocin - at which point I yelled for drugs as this drug made the contractions only stronger and closer together. The strength of the contractions was making me ill and I worried that I would become dehydrated. Cue the "magic Sugar Water" drip. I The staff at UCSF was AMAZING. So attentive and thoughtful, the staff all had excellent bedside manner and made sure that I was comfortable.

The labor itself was only an hour long and was over before I knew it. And now we have this little charmer on our hands. Our friends and family have been so helpful and we are so thankful for all they have done for us. Will post some more later - I feel it is worth it to blog about Baby Items that we have loved so far - Our Stroller, car seat, Kiddopotamus swaddle wrap and plenty more I can't think about yet.

Here's our little prince charming