Ella Kate is Here!

Our baby girl made her entrance into the world Friday morning at 9:31. Ella Kate weighed 6 lbs and 14 ounces and is 19 and 1/2 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair, sweet full red lips, and her eyes appear blue for now. She seems so tiny. Thankfully she's perfectly healthy, which has made the last few days so much easier than they were with her brother (he had some breathing issues, significant trouble breastfeeding, jaundice, and kidney dilation).

Birth story: Our room was right outside the nurses' station which was really loud, so we didn't sleep much. I got up at 3:00 to shower and then rested until our nurse came back around 4:00 to start the required fluids for the administration of the epidural and to give me a dose of Clindamycin. The fluids left me cold and shaking for hours. Around 4:30 the epidural was placed, and at 5:00 my water was broken.  Before they checked my water I was 4 1/2 cm, and after Pitocin was given I progressed to 5 cm.  I started to feel a little nauseous, so my nurse gave me Phinergen.  Wow IV Phenergan is no joke and left me barely able to talk and exhausted for over an hour.  My mom and sister arrived around 6:00, but I was pretty out of it and feeling grouchy from the Phenergan (and because my husband and mother would only give me one red hot each time I requested it as if giving me several would somehow be a big deal).  I think the IV gave me the worse taste in my mouth. 

The nurse had me lay on my side with one leg in a stirrup so that Ella's head would put pressure on my cervix; but when she checked me at 8:38 I was still 5 cm.  She called my OB after that and let him know it would probably be a few hours.  Over the next 10 minutes I felt incredible pressure to the point it was painful and assumed my epidural was wearing off already, which surprised me; it wore off during my labor with Jackson as well but after a much longer time.  I called my nurse, and she requested that my epidural be re-upped.  She also did another cervical check.  And somehow in 14 minutes I had progressed from 5 cm to complete! My nurse could see the head and immediately called my doctor.  His office is on the other side of town, but he somehow still managed to arrive in 15 minutes.  I pushed off and on for 10 minutes, and at 9:31 a.m. our daughter arrived.  We thought my delivery with Jackson was really easy, but this one was incredible! I am so grateful it was quick, uneventful, and that a C-section wasn't necessary.

Thankfully our hospital's policy had changed, and I was able to have skin to skin with Ella Kate for an hour before any testing, bathing, etc. was done.  And a major prayer was answered, and Ella Kate successfully breastfed almost right away.  Such a relief since it took major efforts to get Jackson to nurse the first week or so because he was so drowsy. 

This go-round I also talked to the nurses about interruptions during the night and how we really needed to rest (should be a no-brainer), and they were able to consolidate the checks so that we were only bothered 2 times during the night the first night (and at nursing times instead of random times) and 1 time during the second night (when I called to let them know we were up nursing).  This made a huge difference and allowed us to at least get some sleep before heading home.  We were able to leave Sunday morning and were definitely ready to get home to Jackson and be in a more relaxed environment with Ella.

p.s. I'm so grateful that Ella Kate is healthy and eating so well.