Ella's Birth Story

I've been putting off writing this because...
1. I literally don't know where to begin
2. I want to be thorough and not rush through this post

Before I get started, I realized I never shared my birth plan with you all! The truth is that I didn't really have one. If I have to sum one up, it would have been something like this:

To get baby here as safely as possible, AND for me to be in as little pain as possible.

Easy right? Basically, I wanted my epidural...I had no intentions of delivering without one. In my mind, the worst case scenario would have been "it's too late for an epidural"! Since I was being induced I really didn't see that happening so I was not too concerned.

Let's start from the night before. I tried so hard to go to sleep early and get as much rest as possible since I was going into the hospital super early to be induced. Of course I was up most of the night, not just because I was excited and nervous... but also because I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart! I guess it wasn't really worth tracking them since I was going to the hospital anyway. There was just no way to sleep under those conditions!

At 5 AM, we called to make sure they had a room available for me. Luckily they did (I don't know what I would have done if they didn't - being that my family was already in town)! We headed to the hospital, I was already pre-registered, they admitted me within 10 minutes and brought me straight up to my room.

Patiently waiting to be admitted!

It took about an hour to get situated. My IV was set and Pitocin was flowing by 8. All we had to do at that point was wait! I was prepared with my Sassy Baby Essentials headband of course!

It didn't take long for the contractions to kick in! I don't know why but this surprised me. I guess that was the moment I realized "this is happening"!!! I kept calm by listening to "The XX" (my favorite) Pandora station...thankfully the hospital had wi-fi and we brought my iPad!

The Doc came in slightly before 9:00 and broke my water. He used this funky looking crochet hook, it honestly didn't hurt - it just felt like a lot of pressure. I'll tell you what DID hurt...every time I was examined to see how many centimeters I was dilated! OUCH! At this point I was about 3 centimeters.

Of course I couldn't ward off the family for too long. My mom, dad, brother, and cousin were probably more anxious than I was by this point! Obviously I wanted them there, I just didn't want them hanging around ALL day if things were moving slowly. I was probably only around 3 1/2 centimeters by the time they arrived. Even though I said I was ready for my epidural, I held out for another few hours. 

The labor and delivery room we were in was AWESOME! There was plenty of seating, even a big couch. I was allowed to have 3 visitors in the room at any given time. Stephen obviously counted as one visitor, so we rotated the rest frequently throughout the day. By 1:30, I couldn't hold out any more! Four centimeters was about all I wanted to handle. 

Wow, I was in heaven! I don't know if you are supposed to experience euphoria when you get an epidural but I was feeling amazing! I was relaxed, I didn't have to worry about getting up to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes, I was that much closer to meeting our Baby Girl...the excitement really set in at that point! Between the epidural, and the relaxing music...I was even able to take a few little naps to rest up. 

I even had Stephen update my status, because there really wasn't too much to report on. I was only about 5 1/2 centimeters so we still had a bit to go!

So this is were things start to get a little crazy. Talk about one extreme to the other. At around 7:00 the Doc came in to check me. I was about 6 centimeters and he was concerned that Baby Girl's head was coming down a little crooked. He started getting all serious about the possibility of doing a c-section at this point. 

He explained that it was very unlikely it would straighten out and that vaginal delivery would be difficult. At that point I was disappointed, but like I said... I just wanted Baby Girl to get here as safely as possible - if that meant a c-section, so be it! He decided we would wait another hour or so and reevaluate the situation, but honestly his tone sounded like he was already throwing in the towel. The nurse came in with all of the consent forms and paperwork JUST in case (she said she likes to be prepared, even if we did it all for nothing). We had my parents come in to clue them in on what was happening. It was getting late, we were all beyond anxious!

Soooooo, "minor" detail...as this was all happening, my epidural ran out. My Doc gave strict orders not to give me anymore since a c-section was likely. I guess it's a different medication I would have received? This wasn't a huge deal at first, but let me tell you...it wears off FAST! Things started escalating, the pain really started kicking in, and when he came in an hour later to check me he said "I think you CAN do this vaginally...I'm going to let you try". Could I get my epidural back!? Pretty please!?? Nope! 7 centimeters, and my epidural was almost completely worn off...that's when I started to beg! Guess what, 8 and 9 and then 9 1/2 centimeters came within the next hour! I never got a chance to let my family know what was happening because it all happened so fast! The pain was ridiculous, unlike anything I've ever felt (or ever care to feel ever again). The nurse anesthetist apologized that "no there was nothing he could give me to take the edge off". I was freaking out! Poor Hubs seemed so scared for me, but he held it together like a champ. 

As I was arguing with the nurse that I had to push and she was swearing I wasn't quite ready yet and that the doctor was "on his way back"...Stephen made the decision to switch the Pandora station from "The XX" to "Hip Hop Road Trip Radio". Despite my best efforts, I could not stop my body from pushing! They brought a nurse in to explain the dangers of me pushing before it was time...I was having none of it. It only took about 15 minutes for the doctor to get back but it seemed like 15 hours! 

By the time he finally came in - the room was transformed, I was continuing (because I never could stop) to push, we were in delivery mode...and the "Thong Song" was blasting...yup! From that point, I pushed for 16 minutes while the doctor and nurses sang along to Usher, and then as Lil Jon was signing about "Getting Low"... our sweet little angel Ella Rose (5 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches) finally entered the world at 9:40! They put her on my chest, as Daddy cut her cord. She was showing off her nice healthy set of lungs for us (and hasn't really stopped since). We were immediately in love, she was beautiful - absolutely perfect! What a miracle! There really is nothing like that moment, it's true what they say! I will NEVER forget the way I felt that night! Stephen and I were ecstatic that the peanut was here, and she was more perfect then we ever could have imagined in the past nine months!

Unfortunately, right after I delivered her I spiked a fever and got uncontrollable chills, and was super dizzy! They immediately put me on oxygen, and while Doc was stitching me up he had said I had lost a lot of blood! It was all a total blur from that point. I remember holding her briefly but it was hard to see her with the oxygen mask in my face. My parents, brother, and cousin came in while she was getting her first bath. There were lots of happy tears! Honestly I was pretty out of it, but I remember thinking everything was perfect despite my condition at the time. 

After the family said their goodbye's, we were switched to a different room where we spent our first night as a family of three. My fever went down, I was finally able to eat some graham crackers and apple juice, I breastfed my princess for the first time. Life was good!

Our stay at the hospital was longer than it needed to be by a day because of the fact that I spiked that fever. They ended up running a bunch of tests on Ella just to make sure I didn't pass anything along to her during delivery. The test results took 48 hours so she was discharged a day after I was. Luckily the hospital let us stay as a courtesy for that last night. Going home never felt so good! If you remember a while back I posted about that Subaru commercial where the couple takes the baby home from the hospital. At the moment I was sitting in the backseat of the car it all hit me. THIS was the moment I had been waiting for. Just as I expected, it WAS one of the "best days EVER"! 

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