For memory's sake, here is Ellen's birth story...(the looooong version)
Friday, June 5, 2009: This was my due date--My water broke around 7:45 pm at home. I called the on-call doctor at the hospital and he said to come on in. Once we got everything together & JP got home from work, we were on our way to Baptist. We were checked in and in the room around 9 pm. At this point, I was only about 1 cm dilated. My contractions started but weren't too strong yet & not very regular. My mom & JP's mom & sister joined us for the long night of waiting!
Saturday, June 6, 2009: At about 5 am, the nurse came in and started the Pitocin to try to strengthen the contractions & get them more consistent. She checked my progress & I was still only 1 cm dilated after 9 hours of labor. The slowly increased the pitocin as the day went on. About 7 am, I decide
d to go ahead with the epidural. Once that was in, things were good! I could still feel some pressure with each contraction but not really any pain. We continued like this throughout the day--increasing the pitocin, checking my progress, etc. By about 2 o'clock, I hadn't made much progress. I was only about 4 cm on the maximum dose of pitocin & the baby's heart rate was dropping a bit with each contraction. The doctor said things still looked okay & we could watch it a bit longer. We discussed the possibility of having a c-section if things didn't progress in the near future. About 30 minutes later, the monitor couldn't pick up the baby's heart rate at all & the next thing we knew there were at least 6 or 7 medical professionals in the room prepping me for a crash c-section. As soon as JP & I were ready, they wheeled us down to the OR. I was doing pretty well until this point, but once in the OR it was pretty overwhelming. After a few minutes, they let JP in with me & we waited for them to get the baby out. When they pulled her out (and told us that it was a girl!), I heard a cry which was reassuring. Luckily, I couldn't really see her at this point, because JP said she blue. They rushed her over to be checked out by the NICU staff. She had the cord wrapped around her neck & was in the birth canal face first. She had also swallowed a bunch of meconium during delivery. Although she was breathing on her own, she needed oxygen, so they quickly showed her to me & then whisked her away to the transitional nursery. We quickly decided on a name--Ellen!--and then JP went with her while they finished stitching me up. 
She ended up having to spend the night in the transitional nursery while they monitored her breathing and gave her oxygen. It was difficult to not have her with us, but it was for her own good (although I know 2 grandmothers who were dying at this point since they still hadn't laid eyes on her yet!).
Sunday, June 7, 2009: Sunday morning after the pediatrician came to check her out, she gave the okay for her to leave nursery and join us in our hospital room. We were thrilled! So, finally around noon, Ellen made her way to our room. Everyone was glad to have her around & be able to finally feel a bit more at ease since she was with us.
So, there's the long version of Ellen's arrival! We've all agreed that she has used up her allotment of drama for quite a while!
Friday, June 5, 2009: This was my due date--My water broke around 7:45 pm at home. I called the on-call doctor at the hospital and he said to come on in. Once we got everything together & JP got home from work, we were on our way to Baptist. We were checked in and in the room around 9 pm. At this point, I was only about 1 cm dilated. My contractions started but weren't too strong yet & not very regular. My mom & JP's mom & sister joined us for the long night of waiting!
Saturday, June 6, 2009: At about 5 am, the nurse came in and started the Pitocin to try to strengthen the contractions & get them more consistent. She checked my progress & I was still only 1 cm dilated after 9 hours of labor. The slowly increased the pitocin as the day went on. About 7 am, I decide
d to go ahead with the epidural. Once that was in, things were good! I could still feel some pressure with each contraction but not really any pain. We continued like this throughout the day--increasing the pitocin, checking my progress, etc. By about 2 o'clock, I hadn't made much progress. I was only about 4 cm on the maximum dose of pitocin & the baby's heart rate was dropping a bit with each contraction. The doctor said things still looked okay & we could watch it a bit longer. We discussed the possibility of having a c-section if things didn't progress in the near future. About 30 minutes later, the monitor couldn't pick up the baby's heart rate at all & the next thing we knew there were at least 6 or 7 medical professionals in the room prepping me for a crash c-section. As soon as JP & I were ready, they wheeled us down to the OR. I was doing pretty well until this point, but once in the OR it was pretty overwhelming. After a few minutes, they let JP in with me & we waited for them to get the baby out. When they pulled her out (and told us that it was a girl!), I heard a cry which was reassuring. Luckily, I couldn't really see her at this point, because JP said she blue. They rushed her over to be checked out by the NICU staff. She had the cord wrapped around her neck & was in the birth canal face first. She had also swallowed a bunch of meconium during delivery. Although she was breathing on her own, she needed oxygen, so they quickly showed her to me & then whisked her away to the transitional nursery. We quickly decided on a name--Ellen!--and then JP went with her while they finished stitching me up. 
She ended up having to spend the night in the transitional nursery while they monitored her breathing and gave her oxygen. It was difficult to not have her with us, but it was for her own good (although I know 2 grandmothers who were dying at this point since they still hadn't laid eyes on her yet!).
Sunday, June 7, 2009: Sunday morning after the pediatrician came to check her out, she gave the okay for her to leave nursery and join us in our hospital room. We were thrilled! So, finally around noon, Ellen made her way to our room. Everyone was glad to have her around & be able to finally feel a bit more at ease since she was with us.
So, there's the long version of Ellen's arrival! We've all agreed that she has used up her allotment of drama for quite a while!
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