Our beautiful baby girl is finally here! She sure did come in her own time too :)
Wednesday morning, the day of my induction, my water ruptured (which of course I didn't know until I was well into labor. Like many of you I'm sure, I thought when my water broke it would be a gush of fluid. However, I woke up at 4 am and thought I'd peed my pants. It didn't look or smell like urine but what other explanation did I have? I wasn't having contractions (that I was aware of) and it really was only a trickle so I essentially ignored it. We arrived at the hospital a little after 7am and got checked in and ready to begin the induction process.
Shortly after arriving, the nurses wanted to get my IV started for the pitocin and to draw some blood. I warned them that I do not do well with these and often pass out when I give blood---good thing they were prepared! I quickly started to feel dizzy and broke out into a dead sweat as both my blood pressure (got down to about 60/30!) and heart-rate slowed. Due to this, Baby Ellie's heart-rate decreased as well. In a matter of seconds, there were about six nurses surrounding me, turning me from side to side and eventually on all fours to get Ellie's heart-rate back up. I ended up meeting the house doctor in this manner---talk about a first impression! Poor Steve was forced out of the way and left helpless. I can only imagine the fear and anxiety he must have been experiencing. They left the oxygen mask on me for several minutes and eventually things returned to normal. When they administered the epidural, my blood pressure and heart-rate did the same yet again! The epidural was horrible to be honest. I was uncomfortable, feeling lightheaded and in pain. Once the epidural set in though, I felt basically nothing.
Once the doctor examined me, he determined my water had ruptured and could tell I'd been having contractions for some time. Later, they determined once Ellie's head had dropped more that more of the water needed to be broken to speed things along. Doing so, caused an increase in dilation from 5 to 8 in a matter of an hour and a half!
Finally, at 9:30 pm it was time to start pushing! After about two hours---I had no idea time had passed this quickly! You may laugh and think there's no way two hours of pushing could pass quickly but it certainly did! Every time I'd push, she'd make her way out, then as I stopped contracting, she'd slide right back up. It seemed like an uphill battle but they assured me I was progressing! About 11:30 my doctor reminded me that if Ellie didn't make it by midnight, I'd have to stay in the hospital until Saturday but if she cooperated, we'd be released on Friday. Apparently Ellie didn't want to stay until Saturday and as we'd learned, life is on Ellie's time now :)
At 11:56, we welcomed our beautiful angel into the world! Through tears, I stared down at the beautiful miracle Steve and I had created. She is perfect in every way.
Through it all, Steve was absolutely incredible. He continued to encourage me as I pushed and also, stared in amazement at our angel as he kissed me and told me how great I did and how beautiful she is. After the nurses took her to be tested across the room, Steve was clearly torn over who to be with. I quickly encouraged him to be with our little girl and he helped me feel as if I were standing there with him---telling me every measurement and update the nurses gave him and every toe and finger count, continually telling me how perfect she is.
Ellie was perfect and healthy--- 8 lbs, 4 ounces; 20.5 inches long.
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Our time in the hospital was wonderful and I'm so thankful we chose DePaul hospital and Dr. Lieberman as our OB. The nursing staff was amazing. They were sure to check in on Ellie and I often and more than willing to help with anything I needed. Everyone was so kind and the accommodations were great.
With a healthy baby and an anxious mommy, the staff helped me get started with breastfeeding right away. Lucky for us, Ellie latched on like a champ! The only hiccup we encountered was that she was so soothed by it that she ended up wanting to eat constantly---eat or just suck that is. On Thursday night, she was nursing for over an hour and a half before I finally had Steve bring in someone from the nursery. Prior to this, I was anti-pacifier for the beginning at least. I'd been told they could confuse a nursing baby and deter her from returning to breast. After a near emotional breakdown, we decided to try the pacifier for the night and if it affected the next feeding, we'd abandon it. Well, our perfect baby had no problems and the pacifier did nothing but help soothe her. Thank goodness! She's since nursed like a pro!
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We are so incredibly blessed by our beautiful and perfect baby girl :)
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