October 14, 2012

Ella's Super Basic Birth Story (no icky details)




Ella was due September 27th but Thursday came and went without any indication of her arrival.  I wasn't anticipating an on-time arrival or even a September birthday so I was pleasantly surprised when contractions started Friday and continued into Saturday.  They weren't regular or strong at first so I did a lot of walking and activity to encourage them on.  By 6:00 Saturday evening they were definitely picking up in pace and coming closer together.  By midnight they were 3 minutes a part and lasting 1 minute so we grabbed our bags, kissed the dogs goodbye and drove to the hospital a little in shock that we would be meeting our little girl soon.

Things seemed to move remarkably fast for me from there but I am sure Brandon would tell you otherwise.  My labor pains were primarily in my back since she was in the posterior position meaning she was facing up, which is not good for delivery.  I opted for the epidural and slept my way to 10 cm.  By 10:00 am I was pushing.  However after a lot of pushing and trying to turn Ella around she moved herself into the transverse position and pretty much wedged herself in there.  For the health and safety of both Ella and myself we were told a c-section was necessary.

Before I knew it I was in surgery.  My doctor came in with his laptop, placed it on a side cabinet next to me and proceeded to pick a playlist and check his fantasy team.  He left his fantasy team up the whole time for us all to watch.  He is a big football fan - most of our appointment conversations ended with the Bears.  It didn't seem to affect his performance fortunately; it was a quick and successful surgery with no complications.  C-sections are strange though.  They say you will feel a little pressure but I think you can feel a lot more.  It isn't painful but the sensations are very strange - I could feel a lot of movement.  Bran says the noises were very disturbing for him.  I think I was too wrapped up in the sensations to hear much.  It was all worth it though and at 1:42 pm we met Ella Rose.


This is my favorite photo.  Daddy and daughter meeting for the first time.  So in love with these two.

  
My first glimpse of Ella. 


Our healthy little girl getting weighed, measured and cleaned up.  She was 8 lbs. and 20 in.


While the surgeons closed and cleaned me up, Brandon got to take Ella to the recovery room where he was able to spend some time meeting and bonding with her.  I am so glad he got that time with her.  I feel like the dads can get so overlooked since they don't have the same food source that the moms do.  The nurses made Brandon rip open his scrubs and do skin to skin cuddling - which is something the moms usually do right after birth.  They then left him with Ella and he had some alone time with her.  It was so nice to be wheeled into the room and have the two of them waiting for me.  As much as I did not want to have a c-section it really went very well and was still a very special birth for us.
And how could it not be - our little girl is healthy and in our arms.  That is all that matters.


Next up on the blog: an over abundance of Ella photos.  No surprise there.

1 comment:

Cindi @RustiqueArt said...

I love birth stories...yours is so precious. I cried. Especially the part about the daddy daughter skin to skin moment. Such a lovely image of that bond from birth.
So strange that your blog post landed in my inbox this morning, I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering if you had met your sweet blessing yet. So happy for you and your husband.
Prayers for your quick healing and rest.

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