Here's 明莉 (Akari) at long last! She was 2672 gm and 47.5 cm long at birth. She was born at 3:18AM on May 17th via emergency C-section, but she is healthy and alert (and still loves to suck her thumb!) and I am recovering just fine.

EDIT: sorry about your f-lists guys! The LJ app for iPhone screws up when it "restores previous draft" and no longer gives pic and cut options. Some of the following may be TMI, so I feel I should warn you to scroll by without reading if talk of nursing and/or surgery squicks you out. Sorry again- I'll see if I can fix the post and add photos via Safari, but I have no Internet access besides this thing, and I'm in pain, tired, and I have to feed a newborn in 3 hours or so, so forgive me if I can't, ok?

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It looked like a normal delivery right up to the end. I was finally dilated to 9cm, having toughed it out without the epidural because I'd eaten dinner just before, figuring my contractions still weren't strong enough to warrant another hospital visit. But when I stood up to put my dishes in the sink, I discovered my pants were wet, so off we went again. Turns out it wasn't my water breaking, just incontinence courtesy of the descending baby head, but since I was dilated to 5cm, we were admitted.
Getting to 9cm was such hard work (and took much less time)! I can't imagine how hard it would have been without my husband there rubbing my back during each contraction and encouraging me. The midwives and nurses here are so supportive and encouraging as well. (No doctor til the end, because it was nighttime.)
We had just moved to the birthing room when the fetal monitor showed that her pulse had dropped dangerously, probably because the umbilical cord was being compressed. (No more amniotic fluid to cushion the cord because my water had broken earlier.) So I was taken (on my hands and knees) to the OR on a stretcher as fast as they could, leaving my terrified husband behind.
The surgery was not fun. :( My husband asked me after which part was worse, the labour or the surgery, and I said the surgery. Despite the spinal anaesthesia, I could still feel a lot of pain and discomfort, and I was naked and strapped onto a table and scared. I was soo glad I'd chosen a doctor who could speak English because he could talk me through what they were doing, even if I couldn't see it. At one point, I felt this massive weight leave my body, and seconds later, I heard her cry! They let me see and touch her for a minute before they whisked her off to my husband and to do tests. But I was stuck in the OR until they removed the afterbirth and sewed me up again. :S
Now we aren't the religious sort, but my husband was praying to our ancestors the whole time. He says he got all teary-eyed when they brought her out. We both still get choked up thinking about what could have happened. I was also in pretty rough shape after they brought me out of surgery, shaky and shivery. So it was a few hours before I felt able to hold her and give her her first feeding, but it was pretty incredible. It felt so good to calm her and feel her nursing happily- she didn't want to let go of the first breast, and fell asleep while suckling the other.
Anyway, I should post this and get some sleep. Just wanted to let you all know the happy news. :)

 

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