Just as all pregnancies should go, mine did, in fact, end in the arrival of a tiny person. Little Lady was welcomed into the world and our family at 6:03 a.m. on Monday, August 15.

For those who were keeping track, that was two days after what I thought my due date was, but five days before what the doctors thought my due date was. Which means...well, I win.

And for those of you that know me, you know most things are a competition, although the types of competitions I have now are mainly with myself and not all that exciting. Other competitions I had with myself today were to have a shorter labor than the first time, which I did, and to push less than last time, which I did. So all in all, I was a big winner today on all levels.

I am going to do my best to minimize the TMI factor of this blog, because I could very easily cross that line, I am sure. I just want to let you in on some things that are nice to hear when you are in labor, and maybe a few things that you probably wish had never crossed your ears.

Nice to hear:

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]"You are five centimeters" (in context--I had just arrived at the hospital and had been in labor for less than two hours at this point. If this had been after hours and hours, probably not so nice to hear)[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]"You are doing a great job" (although I am pretty sure they say that to everyone, but they say it is not so)[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]"The anesthesiologist is here" (pretty self-explanatory, really. I soooooo do not need the I Gave Birth Naturally badge. I mean, I did not want any other drugs, but the epidural is pretty much the best thing ever. Especially when your entire labor is four hours long, things tend to come on pretty strong pretty fast)[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]"That was really good timing" (in reference to the epidural, which was finished about 10 minutes before my water broke. All along, I was just hoping there would be enough time to get the epidural) [/naviga:li]

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Not so nice to hear:

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[naviga:li]"She came out with her hand and her head" (which apparently means that even with only about 40 minutes of pushing you are still ruined, please see next bullet)[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]"That is the worst I have seen" (in reference to

you know where)[/naviga:li][naviga:li]"Oh, you poor thing..." (also referencing the state of your

you know what)[/naviga:li][/naviga:ul]

All in all, it has been a long and wonderful day. Little Man did well with his two visits to the hospital. Like some kind of glutton for punishment, we are planning to go home tomorrow (Tuesday) and let the real test begin. I'm sure with the state of my...self...that it will be long and hard and I can't wait to start the next chapter of our family.