labor of love...

so it all began thursday morning.  rey and i headed to winnie palmer hospital to do my weekly non-stress test.  we had to go to the hospital because my doctor was on call and not in the office.  once arriving my doctor decided to do an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok with the baby.  during the ultrasound she discovered that my amniotic fluid was lower than normal so at that point she decided to induce me that day instead of saturday.  the hospital was super busy that day so we ended up having to wait in a room on the triage floor for 12 hours.  it wasn't the most comfortable situation, the room isn't exactly big and i was stuck laying on a stretcher bed with an iv in my arm. it was also a little frustrating just sitting there wasting a day away but rey was there to entertain me and we made it through. :) around 8pm that night a room on the labor and delivery floor finally opened! it was a whirlwind of a process being moved from one floor to the next. once we got in the room the nurse came in and started me on pitocin right away to get my contractions going.  this all started at around 9pm, at midnight the nurse came in to check and see if i was dilated, at this point i was 4cm and i decided i was going to get my epidural, i had felt what labor was supposed to feel like and went with the epidural. i don't claim to be wonder woman and if they are going to give me something to make the pain go away then i'm all for that. shortly after requesting the epidural the anesthesiologist arrived, now at this point i must admit i was slightly scared. i had heard all of the horror stories of having an epidural (the needle is like a mile long, you will never feel your legs along, blah blah blah) so going into the process i was pretty scared. luckily rey was there the whole time encouraging me that everything was going to be ok.  also, the anesthesiologist walked me through every step he was doing which made me feel a lot better.  in the end the epidural did not hurt, it was a prick that lasted a second with  a cold feeling down my back.  once the epidural kicked in i was able to get some sleep for a few hours.  i am so blessed to of had rey there by my side the entire time.  i know what a pain i was, rey can you help me move? rey can you help me get up, rey can you hand me this, rey can you hand me that. etc etc etc..you get the point.  but, never at one point did he ever complain, he did whatever i asked him to help me do and didn't say one word.  i am truly blessed to have him in my life.  around 3am i woke up in pain and decided i may need some more medication, i had fallen asleep and had forgotten to push the button that provides you that magic pain relief you need at the mere touch of a button.  the nurse called the anesthesiologist to come in, once he arrived he asked me when the last time they had checked to see how dilated i was i told him it had been awhile, so the nurse came in and was shocked to see i was already dilated  9-10cm.  she then called my doctor to come in, once she arrived she checked and her response was "oh my god" which is not exactly what you want to hear but it made me laugh.  she then let me know the baby was crowning and was going to come out at any moment.  i'll spare you the rest of the details but an hour later at 6:58 am my baby boy landon alexander lorenzo was born.  weighing in at 6lbs 15oz 20inches (a few days later we took him to the pediatrician whom informed us he was actually 19 in., he was born with a cone head but then came back from the nursery with a normal head, which still is hilarious to me.  in the end his cone head made him an inch longer :) ) he is the sweetest baby i have ever met in my entire life ( i may be a little partial) but seriously, he is awesome.  i never knew i could love someone so much just from knowing them a short amount of time.  every time i look at him i have to smile, he makes waking up every morning that much better.  we have only had him in our lives for a short amount of time and i can't even imagine life without him.  it's amazing to me how much joy such a little thing can bring into your life. i can't wait to watch him grow and learn things everyday. my life is now complete with my little family. it can only get better from here.