It amazes me how quickly time passes. Our sweet Ellee turned 4 on the 3rd of July. Its crazy to think about her birth! I realized it is something I never shared on the blog and thought it would be nice to add the girls birth stories!
This is a disclaimer. This IS a birth story. Do I really need to say more?
Ellee surprised us , were not expecting to be expecting, and we were not expecting the delivery we got. My older sister was engaged and getting married July 23rd of 2011. We found out we were expecting in November 2010, the Monday after we had been to Canada for me to be fitted for my bridesmaid's dress. As soon as I found out, I used Google to figure out my due date, July 22nd. Woah. That just might not work out very well. From there our goals changed. I just wanted to be at the wedding and not worry about being in it.
Ellee was our first everything. Even though we were VERY surprised, we were extremely excited. We couldn't wait to meet her. My pregnancy wasn't difficult at all, not sick really, no major symptoms, except one. Swelling. And a lot of it. It started before 30 weeks even and just progressed and quickly. I wasn't too bothered by it till about 35 weeks. Too much time on my feet and they would be extremely swollen. The swelling made my feet sore and tight. But other then that, I was dandy.
At 36 weeks, my dear sister (in-law) was getting married in Wisconsin and we easily made the trip. We came home on the Sunday evening. I had a doctors appt on Friday. Interestingly enough, my doctor had been on maternity leave from my 29th week to just before my 37th week. It was also her first baby. I went into the office at about 11:00. The nurse took my blood pressure. She took it again. She made me lay down. She took it again. I knew something was up. I saw my doctor, and she was the sweetest. But she told me I need to head to labor and delivery triage, my blood pressure was high, even while lying down , 150/110. She was doing a urine test already to test for protein, but given my swelling and my blood pressure, it wasn't worth the risk on the baby to wait it out. She did not know for sure if they would induce, but most likely if the BP didn't change.
Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, I said in my head over and over.
1. I was by myself. If Matt was there I would have felt differently.
2. I hated the idea of hospitals. A little bit of white coat syndrome I suppose. I have hated needles since I was little, frequently passing out after them.
3. I hadn't even had my baby shower, it was on Monday!
So July 1st, I was admitted. And my BP did not change at all. I was 3 days shy of 37 weeks and I definitely had preeclampsia. Baby girl needed to come out. They started the process slowly before giving me the pitocin. They also had to give me something extremely terrible, a drug called magnesium sulfate which they were giving me to bring down my blood pressure. It was staying so high they were concerned about seizures. The drug made it extremely hard for me to focus and also made me lack strength. Even after I gave birth, they kept me on it and it still wasn't coming down 24 hours post-partum so the sent me home on a blood pressure medicine for a couple weeks after she was born.
By Saturday morning, I was 3cm. The nurse came in and told me doctor had okayed me to get the epidural if I'd like. She said given the amount of pitocin they were giving me, and upping it continually, things would pick up fast. Oh dear I thought, I signed the paperwork. Even though I hadn't decided what to do. I was feeling contractions, but it was really nothing. I said I'd wait though, and tell them later if I actually wanted it. At 4pm, I was only 4 cm, the doctor broke my water. She left and WHAM. A contraction, and boy it was just terrible. It lasted about 30 seconds. Then about 1 minute later, another one. About 30 seconds. And this continued for about 15 minutes. I knew I couldnt make it, I was only 4 cm! That pitcoin, I am telling you. GRRRRR. I sent matt out to bring me an anesthesiologist and FAST. Like Mach 3 fast. He came back and tried to comfort me. Key word here is try. Bless that man, but I kept yelling at him to stop touching me. I can't even remember how long it took, apparently he was in a surgery and would come as soon as he was out. My pain turned to anger quickly and somewhere in there I started saying stupid doctor, where is the stupid doctor. Well it worked, he waltzed in. The nurse followed and said I'd need to sit on the side of the bed. I hadn't moved that fast in 9 months, I HAPPILY swung my feet around, told Matt to go, and cuddled a pillow so I could be gloriously drugged. :)
As soon as it was done and they told me I could lay back- I should add, I literally didn't feel a thing. I was in so much pain it was non existent to get the epidural, which prior to that moment I was more scared about the epidural then giving birth-I fell asleep almost instantaneously. The only thing I really remember in between all that was Matt handing me my phone and telling me he would be right back after getting some food. I knew when he came back because I could smell this awful smell, it was pizza, and I got sick immediately. This was about 10/11 at night.
From there things seemed to fly by. I was 10 at about 1130 and we started pushing at about 12 or just after. I did not realize how long this process would be. I also didn't realize, in true Ellee Scarlett form, she was doing everything possible to make the delivery on her terms. She was sunny side up, face up coming out instead of face down. Which is basically just formula for trouble delivering. At 2:20 am I was still pushing. And my Doctor was standing there and I KNEW what she was thinking. So I said it. I said it to Matt, to the nurses to my Doctor. I DO NOT WANT A C-SECTION. So she stood there, thinking, then she pulled out the vacuum and pulled out Ellee. Matt's side to this story is a little more intense. I cant remember or relate to how long she was using the vacuum. But Matt said he was about to tell her to stop. He said he could just see her arm flexing as she pulled. But Elle was fine, so thankful for Gods hand on her birth! And she had a large hematoma on her head from the vacuum but other then that, nothing, thank goodness. We've heard horror stories about vacuum experiences.
2:29 am.
5lbs 12 oz
And just so tiny.
The funniest thing is the whole time the nurses kept saying "We see here!!" "Strawberry blonde hair!" "A little redhead!!"
It was basically hilarious when she was born and covered in Matt's dark hair. She even had hair on her ears. so sweet.
To this day, Ellee likes things on her terms. She full is of ridiculous surprises and when she wants to do something, she'd like it to be done her way if at all possible. But when things aren't going the way she would like, its hard to even reason with her.
Oh this girl!!
