Dear Jessica,

Sorry that it's taken so long to tell our story. Our daughter, Esther Frida Guigui, was born on September 27th at 1:22 pm. I started to have the early contractions at around 11 am Monday the 26th. I went to the doctor for my NST (non-stress test) and I was 4 cm dilated and about 90% effaced. The doctor said that I could go into active labor at any time and would probably that day.

So, I finished up some last minute things (ie. having my first meeting with a pediatrician). She's wonderful by the way, Ilona Kleiner, in the Sherman Oaks area. At around 3 pm, I called my doula again for the 3rd time and I was timing my contractions at around 6-7 minutes apart and lasting for about 30-45 seconds.

My doula, Leona, came over about an hour later. At around 8 pm we finally went to the hospital. I was having contractions about every 3-4 minutes and they were lasting over 60 seconds and they had gone on for more than an hour. Since I live in the valley, we didn't want to get stuck mid canyon having the baby, but Leona assured us that once we were in the car my contractions would slow down and get further apart and then accelerate again once at rhe hospital.

She was right. When I was finally assessed at triage, which was at around 11 pm, I was back to 5-6 minutes apart and I was only 4.5 cm dilated. The hospital was on fire with women going into labor that night. There were no rooms available and the doctor on call from my practice said that the only way they could admit me into a room would be if I would agree to be induced (with Pitosin) and get an epidural or I could walk the halls for a couple of hours and see how I was progressing.

I opted for walking the halls even though at this point I was starting to become tired and the contractions were bearable but still intense. We decided to walk a little longer just to make sure that they were going to admit me. We went back into triage at 3am. I still had not progressed even though my contractions were closer together.

At this point I had been awake for 21 hours. I forgot to mention earlier that my doctor had made the decision to induce me on Wednesday, the 28th at 8 am because my baby had been measuring 3 weeks behind my due date and the fear was that my placenta was not providing enough nutrients. So when I was faced with the decision again, now at 5 am as to whether or not I want to be admitted into the hospital by being induced, my husband and I felt that the difference between 5 am on Tuesday morning and 8 am on Wednesday morning was not that big of a difference and we were getting closer to being up for 24 hours already.

At 7 am I was in my own room and had the IV going with the Pitosin. I convinced the doctor that I wanted to wait until I really needed the Epidural and they complied. The Pitosin contractions were horrible. They came on very strong and spikey. At around 11 am I was only 6.5 cm dilated and my water finally broke when the doctor was examining me. That moved things along very quickly.

With the help of my husband, our doula, and my mom, I am proud to say that I didn't use any meds and at around 1pm, I was pushing my daughter out. The pushing was such a relief because for the hour prior while I was in the transition phase, I wanted so bad to push and I kept being told "don't push, hold her in".

I didn't think that I was going to make it. I told the nurse that this was it, I have to push her out, I can't hold her in anymore. I got on the bed and I figured, if I'm not 10cm and ready to go, let them put the epidural in, because I can't take anymore.

Luckily, I was ready and even though I requested that my doctor deliver the baby, I couldn't wait for her to come and in 20 minutes, we had a beautiful, healthy, little girl. She weighed 5lbs 9oz was 18.6" long and had the most full head of jet black hair you've ever seen. She lost some weight her first few days, as expected, and she is now over 6 lbs and continues to grow every day.

I'm doing great. I had only 3 little stitches and I was up and about right away. I definitely believe that my yoga practice not only helped me get through the pains and strains of labor, but also aided in my speedy recovery.

Thank you for everything. I can't wait to come by and see everyone and introduce you to Esther.

Much love,

Dahlia