Introducing Ayla!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of being present for the birth of my first niece, Ayla!

I was my sister's support person during the birth, along with her husband. At 4:00 in the afternoon on September 3, my brother-in-law called me and said that my sister was in labour. Due to a certain medical condition, my sis already had an epidural in by the time I arrived at the hospital at 4:45. At that time, she was only 4 cm dilated, and her contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. She was also being given a small dose of Pictocin which her doctor raised by small increments every couple of hours.

At first we thought the baby would be born on the 3rd, but as the evening wore on, my sis did not dilate much further. At one point she started to cry because she thought she would have to have a cesarean.

My BIL managed to get about 2 hours of sleep, but my sis and I couldn't really sleep. Some family members came and went in the waiting room, but the hospital wouldn't allow anyone but me and BIL into the labour room, so they couldn't really be a part of what was happening, sadly. By midnight, the only one left waiting was my mom.

Finally, at 4:30 a.m. on the 4th, the doctor checked and confirmed my sis was 10 cm dilated. Woo! There was a flurry of activity as nurses came in and set up for the birth. They propped my sister up and the doc took another look and said, "Whoa, the baby's right there!" And sure enough, there was the head practically out already without any pushing! So the doctor asked her to push, and sploosh! There was the baby! One push, if you can believe it! And here she is!

Born at 4:47 a.m., 6lbs, 2oz. At the baby shower, we had all guessed the gender and weight. Guess who was right on both counts? Yours truly! :-)

They moved my sis and the baby to a regular room about an hour later, which is when my mom finally got to see them. Then, since it was not visiting hours, she had to leave. BIL also had to go to get their sons who were being babysat by his mother and take them to school. So I stayed with my sis and helped her out until he got back. By the time I left it was 9:30 in the morning. When I fell into bed at last, I had been awake for almost 28 hours. I felt like dying!! But yes, it was worth it! I finally have a niece to fuss over. Let the spoiling begin! LOL