and four became five

Alison O'Loughlin

Saturday September 12, 2009

5:25 a.m.

8 lbs 6 oz

21 inches long

We were so happy to make it to September 12th instead of the 11th (for obvious reasons). We got to the hospital and started pitocin at 7:30 p.m. My doctor came into our room at 9 p.m. and said that he could break my water to get things rolling faster. I declined. This was one labor I was okay with having for an extra few hours.

I finally got my epidural at 12:30 and all was well. The worst part hit me around 3 in the morning. The epidural was working too well and my legs felt like 500 lbs of dead weight. I couldnt move or lift them with my arms. It was a weird feeling that I didnt remember from before. It made me anxious and clostrophobic. I just had to lay in bed and talk myself through it so I didnt freak out. By 4:15 a.m. I was fully dialated. My epidural was now working great. I could move my legs a bit and I could feel the contractions coming, but didnt have the pain.
The doctor got there about 5 a.m. and Alison was born at 5:25. In the process he said a few comments about her broad shoulders and how they were giving him problems. I was thinking "great- this is going to be a horrible recovery". Lets just say the me + labor

(she came out flapping her tongue around. She is definitely a contender for the longest tongue in our family)

dont always go well. Caitlyn and

Nathan both did a number on me. I had the worst... how do I put this lightly... I had the worst "war wound" you could have from normal delivery. It took me weeks to fully recover. After the doctors comments I thought I was doomed again. I was over the moon when he said that I had not torn and that I didnt need a stitch. I was shocked actually. Chad later informed me that he used tons of mineral oil during the process of the delivery. Thank you, Dr. Dowswell!

The hat I brought for her was too big, but still a pretty cute photo op.

Going home

Caitlyn was busting from the seams all weekend waiting to have her chance to see Alison. She got all dressed up to greet her when she got home.

Nathan said "hello" to her, posed for a picture and was off. He stops on occasion to acknowledge her.

Caitlyn immediately got to work. She picked out a flower to go in her hair and got her Tigger book to read to her. Funny thing is - Alison actually looked interested.

Okay - so if you have made it to the end of this monsterous post then you deserve to know how we decided on spelling Alison with one L.
Chad sold it to me for a hundred bucks.
Best money I ever spent.