Ellie’s Birth Story

Ellie's Birth Story - BorrowedBlessings.net

For the last year or so, I’ve been sharing my pregnancy with all of you.  Our sweet Ellie was born on Thanksgiving (ohmygoodness, how has it been two months already?!).  I’m finally starting to come out of the postpartum blur and re-join the modern world – so without further adieu…

My contractions began on the evening of Sunday, November 20, 2016 (39 weeks, 4 days).  The inconsistent contractions continued through Wednesday, November 23 (40 weeks), varying from 5 to 30 minutes apart.  I stayed home from work Monday through Wednesday, convinced that I was going to have the baby any minute.  I spent this time decorating the nursery and walking (and walking and walking).

On Wednesday, November 23 (the day before Thanksgiving, and also Ellie’s due date), I had a check up with my OBGYN.  He did a cervix check and said I was 100% effaced and 2.5 centimeters dilated.  Michael and I went to dinner at Dairy Queen and shopping at JoAnn Fabrics.  I had to stop several times in JoAnn’s and breathe through a contraction (what an experience that was!).  Since the contractions were still 9 minutes apart, we headed home to relax and watch tv.

Around 9 pm, contractions jumped to 4 minutes apart or less (from the start of one to the start of the next) and they were lasting 1-3 minutes each.  After 30 minutes or so of these contractions happening one right after the next, I knew it was time to go to the hospital.  I had started getting body shakes and the contractions were much stronger than they had been all week, so I knew it was the real deal.  Michael and I quickly gathered last minute items between contractions and headed to the hospital.

Do I even need to say that contractions totally suck?

We arrived at the hospital about 10pm.  After checking in at the emergency department, I was wheeled up to the labor & delivery unit.  We were pre-registered (thank goodness) so I only had to sign one form and be weighed before moving back to a room.  The nurses checked my cervix.  At this point, I was 3 centimeters dilated.  The nurses wanted to ensure that I was progressing and having “real” labor before admitting me.  I was in labor at the hospital from 10 pm until about 5 am before I was officially admitted, so I didn’t have any medication during that time for pain management.  This was the longest, most painful seven hours of my life.  My mom and husband were both in the room the entire time providing support.  By morning, Michael and I were both dozing off between contractions.

My original plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, but after laboring all night long I was desperate for pain relief.  The medication options at the hospital included Nubain (an IV pain medication) and epidurals.  I requested and received both options shortly after being admitted (around 6 am).  When the nurses put the IV in, they had to stick me four different places because I was so dehydrated.  At around 8 am, my fantastic delivery doctor broke my water.  At some later time, the nurses started Pitocin to get labor progressing.  The details after the epidural are a little fuzzy for me – but the epidural was a LIFE SAVER.  My family was in the labor room (mom, dad, my younger brother and my husband) and we were watching Larry the Cable Guy on a comedy DVD.  I remember saying a few times that it felt like the baby was right between my legs.

Post epidural…. OBVIOUSLY.

A little after 3 pm, my delivery doctor came in to do a cervix check.  As soon as she did the check, she said “well, are you ready to have a baby?”.  Needless to say, I was ready!  I had gone from 5 centimeters dilated just a few hours before to a full 10 centimeters at 3 pm.  In a flurry, the nurses got everything ready for delivery (and mom turned off the tv – she didn’t want her grandbaby born to the tune of stand up comedy).

I started pushing at about 3:30 pm, but my doctor had two other patients also delivering at the same time.  After I pushed for about 10 minutes, my doctor had to go check on the other two patients delivering and I had to just breathe through contractions for about 20 minutes.  The doctor came back and Ellie was born just 10 minutes later!  My total time pushing was 40 minutes, but 20 minutes of that was spent breathing through contractions.  The delivery itself was fairly quick (although I remember pushing the button for more epidural medication several times!).  After delivery, I felt great… happy, relieved, excited… it was very surreal that the pregnancy and birth process was finally over!  I was also very nauseous and my feet were swollen and itched, but I was also over the moon with joy.

Eleanor was born on Thanksgiving day at 4:06 pm weighing 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19” long.  Ellie’s birth was not at all what I was expecting (and my birth plan went flying right out the window), but at the end of the day we got to meet our sweet baby and that’s what matters!

Thank you for following along on our pregnancy journey!  We are so blessed by our baby girl.  You can share this post below and follow Borrowed Blessings at the top of the page.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.