Madeline Idina Hirsch is here!

I woke up this morning feeling quite a few contractions and having lost what appeared to be my "plug," which is a truly vile word to describe a truly vile thing. I called the doctor who said not to worry about it quite yet, and still to come in for my scheduled prenatal appointment that morning. I went back to bed, hoping to time some contractions, but they just went away. I went to my appointment as usual, and while the doctor could tell I'd made some progress, it wasn't for certain I was truly about to go into full-blown labor. He said to stay out of bed and walk around, and walk around I did. Contractions started again around lunchtime, and Brian and I went walking around the neighborhood until labor really started. And oh, did it ever.

By the time we made it back to the house, contractions were three minutes apart. We got to the hospital at around 3pm, and I was in some serious pain. Still, I remember the panic I felt when Brian was moving the car from the Emergency Room lot and I thought perhaps he might not make the birth. So I insisted that we park the car in the long term lot together, and walk into the hospital. Big mistake. I sank to my knees every ten steps in the parking lot, and barely made it to the front door of the hospital. Because we didn't come in through the emergency room, we were expected to go straight to L&D. The longest walk of my life was down the corridor to the elevators to the maternity wing. I recall alternating between leaning on Brian and breathing, or leaning against the wall with all the medical posters lining it. We got to the floor and I was immediately put into a room and discovered I was fairly far along. I still insisted on an epidural, which I got probably too late for comfort. Soon thereafter, after less than a half an hour of pushing, Madeline Idina Hirsch was here, with the same full head of black hair like her sister. Nursing is going great, and nobody told me what a beautiful spiritual thing it is to have your children hug each other.

Abby's going to be a great big sister.