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!