One year ago...Ella's birth story - long and possibly too much information!?

** I know it's a year late, but I realized I never posted it. So in honor of my baby girl's first birthday, I thought I would relive the experience! **

On Sunday, the 23rd, I went into the hospital to triage because the baby hadn't been moving very much and I had a constant pulling on my lower right abdomen. Baby was absolutely fine, I was contracting every 5-10 minutes, and they chalked the pain up to a pulled ligament and sent us on our way. I was still only 1 cm and 30% effaced, which was no change from my last two weekly appointments. We were glad that we checked and they were all very helpful and reassuring.

I was scheduled for a prenatal appointment and a fetal assessment Monday afternoon. I woke up at 3:00 am on Monday and was having some more intense contractions about 3-5 minutes apart. So I got up and in the shower, and started timing them when I got out. Then I went to wake up Gord at about 5:00 and we were on our way to the hospital around 6. We had sent Ben to Gord's mom's place for an overnighter so we could get some good rest - which was very lucky!

We got back to triage and they hooked me up, asked me a million questions, and checked me. I was 2-3 cms and 90% effaced. So the doctor on call from my OB's group came by and said that we'd be having a baby today! Yay!

At 11:00, I asked for the epidural - I was 4 cms. They broke my water around 12:00 and my contractions slowed down a little. At 4:00 I asked to be checked - still 4 cms. I was having flashbacks of Ben's birth, where I got stuck at 4 cms and had to have a section. It was about then that I started feeling the contractions between my legs. It was like a pressure and a pain at the same time. The doctor came in at 5:30 and checked me - I was 6-7 cms. Okay, some progress! The anaesthesiologist (sp?) came by to give me 4 or 5 doses of more freezing medicine - nothing worked! His last shot was for litocaine, which was the strongest thing they had - and it barely took the edge off! I don't know if it was her position or what, but anyways...

At 8:00 I was still only 6-7 cms. Then I was 8-9 cms at around 10 or 11. They put in a under-the-scalp monitor on Ella so they could measure her heart rate a little better - her baseline heart rate went up a bit during labour, from 135 to 160. Her heart rate was still behaving while I was contracting, but the nurses said that they needed a better gauge of her heart rate, as the external monitors aren't exact. Then they went to put an IUPC up into my uterus to see how strong my contractions were. They weren't really consistent - I'd have two back-to-back and then it would be 5-7 minutes before the next batch. They put it in, and I was 9 cm. It wasn't in right, so they were going to put it back in. At this point, I'm almost in tears, saying that I didn't know how much more of this I could take. I was seriously thinking of consenting to another c-section! Sure enough, the resident checked me before she put the IUPC back in, and I was complete! Yahoo - best possible news!

I started pushing around 2:10 am on the 25th, and she was born less than two hours later! I have two small tears that required some stitches, but I did it! Gord was great - it was a little boring for him while the labour was going on - I was so uncomfortable, he couldn't really help a lot - but when it came to the pushing, he was awesome! So supportive! And he kept saying, "This is so cool! You're doing a great job!" as he watched the whole thing! He got all choked up when she came out, but I kept saying, "I DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!"

Ella had pooped in utero, so there was a potential for her to breath in meconium when she started taking her first breaths, so they warned us ahead of time that they would try to suction her all out before we'd hear her cry. At least we were prepared, cause it did take a bit. Her APGARS were 2 and 7. Other than that, they watched her for a while and then constantly told us how beautiful she was!

What else? The nurses delivered her - all docs were busy - so that was kinda neat. My regular nurse was down there, stretching me out as she crowned. Then all of sudden, she's like, "We need more hands here!" Next thing we know, there's 4 more nurses running in, pushing on my stomach to unwedge her shoulder, and she was here!

People have been asking whether I preferred the "normal" birth or the c-section. Definitely the normal vaginal delivery. It was totally worth it. I am very happy and humbled by the whole experience. I am kinda surprised at how sore I am. I mean, I KNOW what comes out of where all that, but my back was sore and my tummy was sore and in between my legs was very tender, but a lot better now, a week later. But not as painful as my c-section was, not even close. How I was feeling two weeks after my section was how I was feeling when we came home this time.

The same doc that delivered Ben is the same doc we had for Ella (although she didn't make it to deliver her! But she was on call and involved in my care!). Ben was born at 3:48 am and Ella was born at 3:55 am, so not too far apart. Gord's stepsister is a nurse in the L&D - she happened to be working both when Ben was born and also when I was in labour with Ella (she was on days though, so missed the actual delivery) and came by the next day to see her. The nurses and doctors were so great and attentive and answered all my questions. Fabulous.

Ella is adorable! She has these super long fingers that we have no idea where they're coming from. She seems tiny, but she's not really! She has a bit of jaundice, which we're trying to combat with lots of feedings, my milk is in, and other than the lack of sleep, we're great!

Ben is very cute with her. He likes to touch her ears and cheeks, and he'll tell us when she's crying ("He's crying Mommy"). Last week, he gave her a kiss, then went cheek to cheek with her and said, "We're family". Awwwww. I'm trying to involve him by getting him to help me out - bring me a blanket, etc. One day, I told him we had to change Ella, and as I took her to her room, he ran to his and grabbed a pair of his pants and one of his shirts (it was a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt - he must love her!) and brought them for her.

Also see the post announcing Ella's arrival!