The birth story

First things first, the birth story. What a story it is!

So, as we all know I was scheduled for a c-section on Tuesday, January 25 at 10am. Well, I woke around midnight on Tuesday feeling contractions. They weren't much of anything so I could pretty much sleep right through them. By 2:30am I was feeling them regularly and thought maybe I should time them. So between 2:30 and 4:00am I timed the contractions which were generally 5-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. Around 4am I woke up Rob and told him what was happening. We laid in bed for a while because, honestly, my contractions went for days with Stella. About 4:30am I called the doctor and she said to come in the hospital early. They could check me out and maybe do the section early. So I took a quick shower while R packed up the rest of our bags. Of course we weren't ready because we weren't supposed to be going to the hospital until 8am!

And the "dusting" of snow we were supposed to get turned out to be a few inches which we drove the 20 miles to the hospital in. Nothing like having contractions while driving through a snow storm! We got there around 6:00ish. They checked me in and the contractions were getting stronger and stronger. Then they checked me and I was 1 centimeter dilated. I laid in bed in agony debating getting a painkiller. The trouble was they were offering me the only painkiller I got during Stella's delivery so I was terrified to use it again. Well, I didn't have to debate long because they decided to put me in a room to prep for surgery and when they checked me again-just one hour later-I was 8 centimeters dilated!

Obviously I was in pain for real at this point and I was afraid that I would miss the time to get an epidural. I kept thinking about how I couldn't have this baby completely natural. It would break me! The anesthesiologist was in a c-section and couldn't come right away. I was willing my body to wait and slow down. He finally came and it must have been about 8:15 at this point. It was agony to sit up and get the epidural and I was worried it wouldn;t work but after a few minutes I started to feel the contractions get less intense. The pressure was still there and uncomfortable but I felt like I could get through it.

They moved us to the OR even though I was at that point 9 1/2 centimeters. They kept telling us this baby may come before they can do a c-section. They told us that the monitors showed everything was fine and with the quick labor it should be a quick time of pushing. R told the doctors and nurses that last time the same thing was said to us and I pushed for almost 3 hours and then our baby wasn't breathing after it all.  I have to say that everyone in the OR was great (our OB, by the way, never made it the birth because of the snow and the timing) and the doctors and nurses, which there must have been about 8 in total in there, were all very patient and kind with us. They told us that they'd like me to try pushing and if it went anywhere close to an hour, which they doubted it would, they would reconsider the c-section. We agreed and then they told me to start pushing. I pushed through 3 contractions and I could feel her head right there. I was brought back to pushing with Stella because I felt like I had that "right there" feeling for a long time. With the next push, Eleanor was born! She started crying immediately!

It was amazing. R was crying, I was crying, Eleanor was crying, I think some of the doctors and nurses were crying. They held her up and R said " it's a girl"! They put her on my chest and she was all warm and gooey and crying and just beautiful. She scored 9 on both her Apgars. The pediatrician team cleaned her up a little and handed her over to R. We had asked that a NICU team be there, just in case, and Eleanor came so fast they didn't make it there either. Turns out we didn't need them after all.

So, with contractions starting at midnight, Eleanor was born at 9:10am. I think I pushed for maybe 20 minutes. We were back in the recovery room within an hour and Eleanor was nursing.

It wasn't what I originally wanted but I'm glad it happened the way it did. She was destined to come on January 25! I still think I couldn't have planned the vaginal delivery; it would have been too stressful. But my recovery has been easy. I can't imagine having to recover from surgery and take care of a baby. More to come on that soon though!

Eleanor Moon is one week old today and it's amazing how much she's changed already. She's beautiful and amazing and I can't believe how much I love her. It's been a long week. It feels like a lifetime and the blink of an eye all at once.

I want to write more about how overwhelming it has all been but that'll have to be another day because it's time for a feeding, again, already!