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Ella May's Birth Story

Ella May’s Birth Story

I was feeling really sick the whole day and the baby was way up high in my ribs to the point where I couldn’t sit. I had called the doctors office to write me a note to finish out the week at work, but not come back until 6 weeks post partum.

I had been having contractions starting at 9:30pm and they were 5-7 minutes apart which was nothing different than the 3 weeks preceding.

At 1:00am I woke up to more severe contractions, but just ignored them and tried to go back to sleep, but finally got up to go to the bathroom. The second I got up, I felt a sort of pop and told Adam that I think my water had broken. I went to the bathroom and had a big gush, so it definitely had! I sat on the toilet for a good 20 minutes because there was a lot of fluid. Finally I decided to pack the rest of my bag and leave for the hospital. At this point, my contractions were moderately painful and about 5 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital and went through the emergency room to L and D because that’s where they had told us to go in Lamaze class. Once we got up there, they gave us a room and started hooking me up to all the monitors. My parents showed up along with my sister to wait with us. The resident doctor came in to check how far I was progressed and I was only 1.5 centimeters and 40% effaced. I knew I had a long night ahead of me at this point. He had talked about pitocin eventually because my water had already broken and I was at risk for infection.

9 long hours of contraction after contraction, trying the birthing ball, standing up, sitting down, bent over, my ob/gyn came in and checked me again. 2 cm and 80% effaced. We decided to start pitocin. We talked about an epidural because he believed this could be a long process. I opted for it and 10 hours into labor, I got an epidural and pitocin. The epidural was the worse part of the whole experience. The anesthesiologist lacked a bedside manner along with the nurse who was in labor and delivery for the better part of the day. They couldn’t find the spot and had me guiding them, the anesthesiologist kept yelling at me telling me that I didn’t have to have one if I didn’t want to. By this time, tears were streaming down my eyes and I almost passed out while my blood pressure was at 74/40. They had me lay down while my blood pressure went back up, gave me some anti-nausea medicine and left the room. Thank God that was done.

It was pretty smooth sailing after this. They checked me about 4 hours later and I was 6-7 centimeters and they didn’t tell me how effaced I was, but the pitocin was working! The doctor left and the nurse had seen that the baby’s heartbeat was erratic and asked me if I was feeling pressure. Well I had been feeling pressure the whole time, but it was a little more than before. She checked me and I was fully dialated just 30 minutes after checking before.

They called the doctor back in and I started pushing at 3:25pm. Ella May was brought into the world at 4:13pm. She was 7 pounds 15.4 ounces and 21 inches long. Her apgar was 7/9, losing points only because of her color.

All in all, I had a great and very uneventful birthing experience. Oddly enough, I’m a little sad that that part is over, but I am SO happy she is here. I love her so much!

She is a very strong baby and holds her head up very well by herself already. Breastfeeding is going alright, with the help from a lactation specialist and home nurse.

The nurses in the hospital all in all were great! We had one specific nurse named Lea who really helped us out and was always there for me!

The love you have for your child is like no other, it’s so hard to explain! Adam and I are so happy. I didn't expect to have so many emotions all at once, but it was all worth it!

No progress:(

Ugh. Not dialated. Not effaced. Nothing. The doctor said it could be weeks. We'll talk about induction next week, but he doesn't think it would be a good idea because my cervix isn't ready. I agree, but am disappointed. I'm so ready. I know, I know, I'm not even close to being overdue. I just hate the fact that my paid FMLA time has already kicked in at work and it gives me less and less time with her. He says I'm still measuring 3 weeks ahead, which of course, makes this all the more uncomfortable for me.
Work is getting very very uncomfortable, yes I can sit down once in a while, but when I have to get up, I have to get up and that's about every 5 minutes. I think my last day will be August 29th regardless. Paid or unpaid, I can't do it anymore.
Hopefully next Tuesday, I will have better news....

58th Percentile

Just a quick update, baby is measuring around 6 pounds 11 oz, give or take 1/2 pound, so I'm not giving birth to a giant like the doctor thought I was. I have a freakishly long torso and the ultrasound technician seemed to think that may be why the fundal height was so far off last week.
So, yes, she will fit into her newborn clothes and diapers and, no I will not give birth to a gigantic head. Oddly enough, her femur was what was measuring large. For those of you who don't know me IRL, Adam and I are not tall people by any stretch of the imagination.
My cervix is still just "softened", not dialated at all, but I'm only 37 weeks, so hopefully next week there will be some kind of progress. I was a little disappointed because of all these contractions I've been having and how low I've been feeling the baby lately. I keep thinking to myself "3 more weeks of this will kill me." But hopefully it won't be 3 more full weeks. There will be eviction notices handed out in a couple of weeks.
For those of you who haven't seen me recently, there have been HUGE changes. Here are some sequential pictures of my pregnancy. 7 weeks, 18 weeks, 30 weeks, and just yesterday!





Adam thought it was so cool how I could balance a bowl of ice cream on my tummy. Ya, I did too, however, after baby is born, there will not be this much indulgence;)

36 Week Appointment

Yesterday I had my 36 week appointment and I'm measuring WAY ahead at 39 weeks, so they are doing a growth ultra sound next week to see if the baby is indeed that big. I really hope she isn't for lots of reasons.

Her heart rate was good at 156. I had my group b strept test and the doctor checked to see if I was dialated, but I wasn't, my cervix, was however softened.

Work is going better now that I am part time, day off tomorrow, going to get the rest of the baby stuff that I need:)