So, Elle will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, and I am just now getting to my first post since she arrived, but hey, better late than never, right?
I have been wanting to write a post about Elle's arrival so that I can remember all of the tiny details. Since it has already been 6 weeks, some things may already be a little foggy, but I am going to try to remember. Most of you have probably already heard all of these details, so feel free to skip this post.
On Thursday, May 14th I had gone to work as usual, but was not feeling all that great, so I left work and headed home around noon. Noah had been home all day because he was sick to his stomach, and had been for about a week. I feel the need to mention that he must have really been feeling bad, because this was the first sick day he had taken during the four years he has worked at Sewell. So, for most of the afternoon we both napped and tried to get some rest (which ended up being a very good thing)!
Around 5:30 PM I got up from napping and decided to start making some dinner. I had just poured some milk into a can of soup when I realized the milk was rotten! I was standing at the sink dumping out the soup when my water broke. It wasn't a huge gush, but it was enough to soak me and run down my legs (sorry, may be tmi for some of you!). I looked at Noah who was laying on the couch and told him I was pretty sure my water had just broken! I had read somewhere that only 10% of labors are brought on by the woman's water breaking (usually the end up having to break them in the hospital), so I was pretty surprised that mine had on its own.
I called the on-call doctor and let him know that my water had just broken, and he said that we should head to the hospital. He also specifically said that it was probably not a good idea to stop by Burger King on the way in! Little did I know that it would be almost 30 hours later before I would have any solid food!
Noah and I packed up our suitcase and got in the car to head to the hospital. At this point we were getting really excited, but I was also getting very nervous! I had no idea what to expect. I knew that since my water had broken that I would definitely be having the baby within the next 24 hours or so, so that was at least reassuring.
On our way to the hospital we called both sets of parents and Kellie and Justin. We said we would call them back once we got into our room at the hospital and then they would head over. Once we got to Labor and Delivery, there were not many rooms available because they were having such a busy night. We ended up in a room in the very back that a nurse later told us they usually only use for meetings!
The doctor on call was Dr. Brough, so he came in to see how things were going and reassured us that my water had indeed broken and that we would not be leaving the hospital without a baby! I was only 2 cm dilated at this point, so they hooked my up to all the machines and put in an IV (which was very painful!) and let me continue to progress. After a couple of hours they started me on pitocin to try to get my contractions closer together and stronger.
By this time all of the family was at the hospital and we spent a lot of time chatting - and everyone but me went to Sonic to get some dinner! I was getting pretty tired, so I asked everyone to go out to the waiting room so that I could try to get some sleep before the real contractions started. I had assumed that Noah would come back into the room with me, but apparently he isn't a mind reader (who knew?) and thought that I didn't want him in there with me either. So after 30 minutes of not being able to sleep, and been left completely alone in the room, I decided I needed to get Noah. Little did I remember that my phone was all the way across the room and I was hooked up to an IV, so I couldn't get out of bed! I was trapped in bed and desperately wanted my husband! I just kept praying that someone or the nurse would come back in my room and I could call Noah, but it ended up being close to an hour and a half before anyone came back in! Not a very fun part of the story, but a part it is, so I might as well remember it.
Around midnight everyone started getting pretty tired, and we all tried to get some sleep. I, of course, couldn't sleep with the unknown lingering ahead of me, but I think everyone else did. Around 2:00 AM or so my contractions started getting pretty intense and I was in a lot of pain. I was only 2.5 cm dilated, but I went ahead and asked for my epidural. It was after 4 AM before the anesthesiologist was able to start the epidural, and by that point I was very ready for some relief! The epidural did not hurt at all, and I would recommend them to everyone! I have no idea how anyone could have a natural childbirth! The epidural took a couple of hours to block out all of the pain, but once it did I was much, much happier.
At 9 AM Dr. Blewett (who had since come on shift) came in and said that I was completely dilated and that it was about time to start pushing. We expected that I would have the baby by 10 AM - little did we know! After almost two hours of grueling pushing, I was completely and utterly exhausted, and the baby was not passing through my hip bones. The doctor and nurse let me continue to push for another half hour, but the baby still did not budge, and I had had enough. Dr. Blewett said they were going to prep me for a c-section. I was very, very sad and scared to have a c-section and started crying right away. I just knew that I was going to be one of those patients who doesn't go completely numb and can feel them cutting into her! The nurse ended up giving me a little higher dose of the medicine because I swear I could still feel it when she pinched me.
I think it was a little while before the family knew that she had arrived (my mom said she was getting worried that it was taking so long), and honestly I don't know when Noah even went out to tell them. Once she was delivered everything is a little blurry because I was so, so tired. I know that the family came back two at a time to see her, and it was fun to see everyone meet her for the first time.
The stay in the hospital was very surreal. Noah was truly amazing and really took care of me and Elle the whole time. I was stuck in bed for two days, so he had to do almost everything for us. I had to walk him through his first diaper change - he did excellent!
Elle Adelaide was born 10 days before her due date on Friday, May 15th at 12:17 PM. She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 18.75 inches long. Noah and I are overjoyed to have her! We have been truly blessed with a precious and healthy baby girl. She continues to grow and change every day!
Thank you Lord for my sweet little family!
If you made it to the end of this post - bless you! I promise the next one won't be so long.
