And then my water broke.

Only a few hours after posting this, Tom and I decided to go to bed early—a highly unusual decision for us, but indeed a wise one. Indeed. I was instantly in dreamland once the lights were out. But half an hour later someone turned on the hose. It was the raging waters of Niagara Falls. Seriously. It just kept coming too. At the hospital, the nurses kept referring to how I'd "already ruptured." I agree whole heartedly with the phrase. "Ruptured" is probably the most accurate word known to mankind to describe the incident.

But that's all I'll say about that.

As far as labors and deliveries go, I'd say mine was just dandy. All went well and I even got to wear an oxygen mask for the first time in my life. And in my unprofessional opinion, I'd say the invention of the epidural is heaven sent. Aw—life was just glorious afterward.  According to Tom, this was me:

This past week's been a totally wild one. If I were to write a post about nursing, I'd title it something along the lines of "Nursing: A competition to see who can cry harder," or "Nursing: Living the nightmare," or "Nursing: The most efficient method for feeling like a cow."  I was going to tell you all about my troubles, but Tom said he thought that was weird. So I'll give the short version that involves a visit to a lactation consultant and a strange little pill called Fenugreek that oddly enough makes me smell like maple syrup. If the little miss grows up with an inclination to pancake houses, I guess we'll know where it stems from.

But enough writing. Here's some more pictures.