Ellie's birth story

We are so happy to announce the arrival of our little Ellie! Two weeks later and we've adjusted pretty well to having the newest addition to our family finally here.... especially considering that she was a week late! (as is well evidenced by her peeling/flaking skin and the fact that she was so long when she was born 20-3/4" - both signs of late-term babies).

When nothing happened the weekend after I was due (we even went to the hospital that Sunday after her due date to get checked and nothing was happening), I called the OB's office on Monday to make a '41-week appointment' and the first thing the receptionist said in response was, 'You poor thing!' So I went in on Tuesday and when the doctor came into the exam room he asked me, "Do you want to have a baby tomorrow?" I said, "Yes!" Apparently he was on call at the hospital for the practice on Wednesday and as we learned later, he had about 6 of HIS own patients in there that Wednesday (I was the last of his patients to be induced that day... which is why I wasn't called to come in until 2pm - and they wanted me there at 2:30 to be induced!)

We had gone into his office Wednesday morning so he could strip my membranes to see if that got anything started, but I guess I must be like my mom and will need pitocin and for the doctor to break my water in order to get the consistent contractions needed to birth babies! Anyway.... stripping my membranes did hardly anything at all since I was 5cm that morning when he checked me and I was still a 5 that afternoon when they started me on the pitocin at 4:30. But that Wednesday was the date I had in my mind ever since I got my positive pregnancy test back in January and did the math - and my date was a week after the doctor's due date based on the first day of my last menstrual cycle and even based on the date of fertilization (people think it's weird when I know that - but when you are charting your cycle to get pregnant you do keep track of those things!) The entire week that she was 'due' it never felt like she was coming - and even Marc didn't feel like it was the right time for her to be born. So I guess Ellie needed to come on that particular Wednesday and no other because that date just felt like the right day for her to be born.

So on with the birth story.... I was started on pitocin at 4:30 and was at 5cm. At 5:30pm when the doctor came in to break my water I had progressed to 6cm. Yay! An hour later I had started to feel like pushing because the contractions were so intense but when the nurse checked me I was still only at a 6. I was so frustrated because I was trying to relax and breathe correctly as I was taught to do in my HypnoBirthing class I took when I was pregnant with Mason (and refreshed myself on during this pregnancy), but it wasn't helping. I begged the nurse to turn the pitocin off to give me some reprieve, but she was hesitant to do so. She said, "You're already 41 - 3 (41 weeks and 3 days overdue) and some women like that really need the pitocin." I countered with, "Some of my friends have had the pitocin on for an hour or so and it's turned off and then their bodies take over." So she said, "Okay, we'll turn it off for 1/2 hour to see if you progress."

After it had been turned off for a few minutes (and the contractions were still intense and my body was tensing up even though my head was telling my body to relax), I had Marc give me a priesthood blessing. Then I climbed back into the bed and on his own, Marc turned on my "Rainbow Relaxation" track from the HypnoBirthing CD I received when I took the class. The track is about 20 minutes long. I was really getting into it and was thankfully able to relax and even sleep a little bit between contractions (Marc will vouch for that since he heard me breathing so deeply it was almost like when I snore). The nurse came back in right before the track ended and when she checked me I had progressed to a 7! So she said she would keep it turned off.

After she left the room Marc started the track again. This time through was amazing for me because the last 3 or 4 contractions before she came back in I was for the first time able to see how contractions can be 'waves' or 'surges' that you 'ride out' until it peaks. I was also able to visualize my cervix opening like a rose with each contraction because I really did feel like it was opening.

So when she came back in before the track was even finished she told us, "The doctor wants to turn the pitocin back on." I was NOT thrilled with that prospect.

But happy day - when he came in and checked me, I was to a 10! I had progressed 3 cm in less than 20 minutes and was the MOST comfortable through those contractions then I had been when I wasn't progressing at all during the hour after the doctor broke my water and I was still on pitocin.

So all the nurses came in and everyone got everything ready and then he had me start pushing at 8:04 during my next contraction and had me keep pushing for the next 3 minutes - almost continually without any breaks. He and the nurses kept saying, "You're almost there" but I knew I wasn't since I couldn't feel Ellie's head coming out yet and I certainly couldn't see anything since they never got the mirror into a position for me to see anything! But apparently Ellie's head was sideways and the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck so he was turning her head and pulling the cord over her head during the time he was having me push. FINALLY after pushing for 2-1/2 minutes I felt her head start to come through and then I KNEW it was almost over since she was finally on her way out!

Then since Marc gets queasy about blood and stuff like that, I cut the cord. That's a different experience. It really is squeaky and tough to cut with the scissors. It was like cutting through chewy calamari (which is the only type of calamari - aka squid - I've ever eaten).

But she made it safe and sound and weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20-3/4" long - which is 4 oz less than Mason was when he was born but 3/4" longer!

I'm also happy to report that I only tore about a half a degree - so my recovery time was MUCH faster than it was with Mason when I tore to a 2nd degree. Thanks in large part to my friend Nadia telling me about the epi-no and my exchange partner Annika ordering it for me over there in Germany and then sending it to me. That thing works! I only got it up to 9 cm since the last week I was using it (the week she was supposed to be born) I only used it 4 times and not every night - so I know that had I gotten it up to 10 cm I wouldn't have torn at all. But I'm happy with my 1/2 degree tear since my recovery has been sooooo much faster!

I was nervous about how Mason would react to her once we brought her home, but he's been pretty good. He's loving and will kiss her at night after family prayers when we have him hug us and give her a kiss. He's most helpful in getting the boppy pillow for me - he LOVES to say, "boppy" as he brings it over to me. He tries to put the pacifier in her mouth and share stuffed animals with her when she's in her swing. He's most helpful in carrying his chair over to her swing so he can change the music/sound settings and turn the rotating mobile on for her.

So all in all things are going well. I took her for her two week appointment yesterday and she's already gained her birthweight back and then some! She was 8 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital but yesterday she was 9 lbs 7 oz AND she's grown 1/4" so she's now 21 inches long!

Also, when they put her up on me after she was born, she latched on correctly almost right away to my nipple and was nursing correctly! She hasn't had a problem nursing at all - so that has been really nice as well that she's done so well nursing.

I've decided the only negative thing about her birth was the fact that she was born at 8pm and I didn't have any pain medication, so even though I was tired by the time they got me down to my room and brought her back into my room at 10pm.... I was still wired on the natural endorphins that I hardly slept that night! Mason was born at 1:30pm, so by the time it was time to go to bed I was ready to sleep and the endorphins had pretty much run their course. But even with that I can't complain. HypnoBirthing and the epi-no both worked! I'm so grateful I took the HypnoBirthing course during my pregnancy with Mason because it taught me a skill I can use during the births of each of my children.