Elle's Birth Story

Hello beauties!

While I was pregnant I must have read over 100+ birth stories and watched all the seasons of TLC's a baby story. I thought by reading other women's experiences I would be more prepared for that special day, and In a way it actually helped! I knew what to expect and i became more confident on the whole process. Gigi & I are pretty excited to share our story and as you will see they are very different. I had a very easy pregnancy did not have any morning sickness or complications. I gained a total of 29lbs. I ate pretty good throughout my pregnancy but also indulged when my body needed it.. that meant daily panera bread creamy soups..I always thought I would deliver early! Don't ask me why...I just did. So when it was the day before my due date and there was still no baby I was pretty bummed out. That day I decided to get ready and go to the mall for a Long walk! Hubby came along in case it was show time. After 4 hours of walking, smoothies and MAC shopping I was home with swollen feet and no signs of labor. I had my 40 week appointment the next morning and we would be discussing the option of getting induced. But I never made it to that appointment. At exactly midnight I started having contractions which at that time I thought was just a bad stomach ache.I tried to sleep it off for a few hours until it became worse and worse. I never had any back pain like the baby books said and I wasnt sure if i was actually in labor.  At around 2:30am I decided to download a contraction app on my phone to time the "contractions". At this point it was a little uncomfortable but I could still handle it. the contractions were pretty spaced out so I decided to go back to sleep. At around 4:00am the pain was coming more often and closer so I called the hospital. They told me I could come get checked out when my contractions were 5 min apart. We arrived at the hospital at 6:00am and although I had Pre-registered they made me fill out a million forms!. They went to check me and honestly i felt like the pain had stopped, so I really hoped this was it and that they wouldn't send me home.  at that point I was only 2cm dilated. I never had any signs of labor such as discharge, loss of mucus plug etc. After numerous walks down the hall at around 9am I was 5cm and they gave me my own room and broke my water. To my luck the maternity ward was completely full and my nurses disappeared at times. I wanted to get the epidural and they told me the anesthesiologist would come ASAP. I think this was the hardest part because the contractions were so close together and lasted so long that I didn't get a break. 2 hours and 8cm later I got my epidural. The nurses told me i could have gone natural at this point but the pain was pretty intense and knew it wouldn't get easier. As the drugs sank in I started to freak out  because only my right side was numb! After turning on my opposite side over and over my left side became numb as well, what a relief! at around 3pm I was fully dilated and effaced yet my doctor was no were to be found, apparently he was at the office seeing some patients. At around 4:30pm my doctor arrived and it was Show time! I remember being so scared to push even though I knew that the worst part was already done and i couldn't feel a thing . I got this panic attack right before we started and i started feeling nauseous. As silly as it may sound i was also a bit embarrassed and scared to push something out while in labor. After a few moments and much ice chips I took a deep breath and followed my doctors instructions. It really was easier than i thought and by the nursers remarks i did pretty well. I pushed for about 30min until my doctor felt the umbilical cord around my babies neck. i had an episiotomy and seconds later there she was, the sweetest cry I will never forget. On march 11 at 5:30pm I met my beautiful angel. So many people would tell me their story and it would really intimidate me. All I can say is that it will be different for everyone. But one thing for sure is that you will only remember the good parts and once you see and hold that beautiful baby you will forget all the rest!

xoxo

Elle

 

39 Weeks/3 weeks post partum