ellie’s birth story

it was early in the morning. not as early as olive’s journey {4:45am} but it was right before 7am. i was feeling very strong braxton hicks all morning but i couldn’t tell if they were actually contractions or really strong braxton hicks {my braxton hicks had gotten progressively stronger the last couple weeks}. hc kissed me goodbye right before 7am before he left for work. shortly thereafter, i felt a really strong contraction. again, it felt different but i wasn’t sure! i text hc to let him know that i had a feeling and he insisted on working from home, so he turned around to head back.

while i was lying in bed…i wasn’t sure if my water had broken or something else was going on! let me just preface this by saying i never experienced my water breaking with olive or anything else. her contractions were very, very, very consistent though! olive’s labor was very different than ellie’s!

well, for those of you faint of heart…my mucus plug had left it’s premises, that was the ‘water’ i was feeling between my legs {or aka the bloody show}. i got up to get ready for the day and waited for hc to come back home. i finished packing my hospital bag, grabbed olive’s suitcase, and waited. the contractions were soooooo inconsistent. 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 16 minutes, 12 minutes. i remembered olive’s contraction being very consistent and continuously dropping in time whereas ellie’s was all over the board.

i contacted my sisters to let them know and called my obyn’s office to let them know that i was possibly in labor. they wanted me to come in just to make sure i wasn’t leaking any amniotic fluids and just to double check that everything was ok. mine and hc’s plan has always been to head into the city if i started to feel any labor pains and that is exactly what we did. although we joked non stop that we were hoping it wasn’t on a friday at 3:00 in the afternoon! well, it was a friday…but at least it was in the morning!

we headed down, traffic was light, and made it to our appointment on time. the head nurse didn’t detect any amniotic fluids and told us just to track and gauge how i was feeling throughout the day {i was dilated 3.5 cm}. hc and walked around a bit and decided to eat breakfast. the contractions were there but not in any timely fashion. i would have them here or there so, we just decided to eat and then walk around until i felt it was time.

we checked into the hotel right next door to prentice and decided to wait it out in the hotel room. the contractions were getting stronger and i didn’t want to walk around anymore…i was so tired! the front desk lady was so kind, she upgraded us to a really nice suite and gave us a discount! fabulous! the room was great although we weren’t in there for long! we checked in around noon? i can’t remember and only stayed til about 4:30 pm. my contractions got progressively worse. they were so incredibly painful but i am so stubborn and have a high threshold for pain…i waited way too long again {i did the same with olive}. i told hc it was time and we walked the half block over to the hospital. on the way there, i went through a contraction and had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to bear down the pain. i am sure people and cars going by were like, whoa! that women is in labor!

we checked into triage and while we were in there, i went through two more contractions. they checked us in and told us we could get checked in to the delivery room anytime {i was over 4 cm dilated by then}. well, things are so slow and it took over an hour for us to finally get scooted upstairs {it was near 6 o’clock by then}. my contractions were ridiculous. so darn painful. i cried, shook, and sweated through each one. they wheel chaired me up and i thought i was going to break the wheelchair going through such awful contractions.

once i got into the delivery room, it was smooth sailing and the nurses were great! they had to iv me but it was awful going through a contraction while they were poking a hole in my vein. i was trying hard not to look but blood was seriously squirting a half foot into the air as i clenched my fists going through the pain! so bananas! they had the anethesiologist on the way and i couldn’t wait! omg…my contractions were absolutely numbing. the anesthesiologist was hilarious. he looked barely 30 and was so funny! they made it so much more bearable as i had to sit still during the whole process and going through body shaking contractions isn’t easy when they want to put a foot long needle into your spine! once the epidural was administered {that was around 7pm…12 hours after the first contractions}, life was fantastic. i was relaxed, i couldn’t feel the contractions anymore {hallelujah}, and now it was just a waiting game.

i settled in, thinking i might nap but everything went faster than i thought it would. while i was waiting around to get dilated, one contraction i felt was really, really strong. i, obviously, didn’t feel the pain but the pressure was absolutely uncomfortable. i said something to the nurse and she came over to analyze the monitors. they all seem to become very concerned. they thought maybe i had already hit 10cm and the baby needed to come out. i was like whaaaaaa?! it had only been 45 minutes or so since the epidural was given. the nurse checked me and i was only a bit over 5 cm so that wasn’t the case. she then said to me, “the baby’s heartbeat has dropped and i am going to press a button, once i do…there will be a dozen people in the room within the next minute, so don’t get worried, they are here to help”. i started crying. all i could think about was the baby ok, was the baby ok.

she was right. within a minute, a dozen people filled the room. i was crying and kept mumbling if the baby was going to be ok. they asked me to get on all fours…holy cow, are you kidding me?! i am flippin’ numb from the the waist down! and not only that, i had wires and plugs attached everywhere on my body {epidural, blood pressure arm band, catheter, iv}. i needed the nurses to help me flip my body over to get on my knees and elbows. they wanted me in that position so oxygen could circulate better for the babe. they threw a cap on my head {for possible emergency c-section}, threw a pill in my mouth, and then an oxygen mask on my face {all the while i am still crying, worried about the baby being ok}. there was a nurse who had her hand up me to see how far i had dilated while i was on all fours and a dozen people standing around waiting to react. it was the worst few minutes of my life. i was scared the baby wasn’t breathing, i was scared that i would have to have an emergency c-section, and i was just scared because i wanted everything to be ok.

after 10 minutes or so, the baby’s heart rate climbed back up and everything was ok. they took off the mask, the hair cap, and let me lay back down on my back. every time i went through a contraction, i strained to see where the baby’s heart rate was at. i could not relax after that! i was so worried every contraction would cause the baby to freak out. they explained to me that the really strong contraction i had caused the baby to become disoriented. they gave me an example as if you were dunked in cold water and weren’t sure what was going on…the baby got confused {shocked} and was ‘gasping’ for air and that is why her heart rate had dropped.

so, after that i just waited and everything was just fine. it was near 9 o’clock when i felt immense pressure with every contraction. like intense pressure. it was constant. i paged the nurse and told her about it. she came in and checked my stats to analyze my situation. within minutes, both nurses were back in and said i was 10 cm dilated. it was so fast! just a little over an hour ago, i was just a smidge over 5! they said the doctor {auger} was paged and that the baby was coming! i didn’t expect it to be so fast! one, my labor was still a long time…everyone said it would be so quick, nope, still a loooooong labor but once ellie decided to come, it was super speedy!

dr. auger came to the delivery room and we were ready to go. legs were up and i was ready to push. i went through 3 contractions, 9 pushes, just a little over 10 minutes, and ellie made her debut!! omg. i can’t believe how fast it was! 14 hours of labor and less than 13 minutes of pushing and here she was! she came out just staring…maybe for 5-10 seconds and then she started crying.

i was sooooooo happy! there was my healthy girl! she was incredibly beautiful. they placed her on me right away. oh, i was so elated to see her. she was finally here. after a very long, tough pregnancy, ellie was finally by our side. words can’t describe the joy and love you feel meeting your baby for the first time. my heart was beyond full…i now have two beautiful girls to call my own. i was relieved, joyous, in love, happy, and content to finally have her in our world.

welcome ellie harlow heintz | 7.15.16 | 9:13pm | 7 lbs. 9 oz. | 20.5 inches and a beautiful head of hair just like her sister olive. our family is now complete. we are truly blessed.

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[here she is! fresh out of the oven!]

via tandeminlove.com[my baby ellie]

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[daddy with his ellie]

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[my little miracle]

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[so in love]

xoxo

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