Anouchka Talks

Well, chickadees, we did it.  Habibi and I successfully made, grew and delivered another human being.  Needless to say, Anouchka Talks  will be silent for awhile...but not forever. :) A brief synopsis of our baby story... On January 6, 2014 (a record-breaking cold day), we went in to be induced at 7 am.  We began the process at around 8:30 am and, throughout the rest of the day, other inducing methods were used (from prostaglandins to oxytocin to manually breaking my water) and, eventually, things really got fired up.  By 5:45 pm, I was having contractions painful enough to merit an epidural, though I retained most of the feeling in my left side. On January 7, 2014, I began "pushing" at 2:09 am.  Exactly four long, rigorous hours later, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Hulk, into the world via vacuum extractor.  (The booger wouldn't budge  for hours, even after she had begun crowning!!!)  Delirious from exhaustion, emotions and drugs, I craned my neck to see ove