Our Ella’s birth was such a sweet experience for our little family. It is so amazing to be able to bring these sweet spirits into the world, and we feel so incredibly blessed and humbled to have little Ella in our lives.
Little Ella’s birth was anxiously-awaited in our family. I never would have guessed that she would be overdue! It turned into quite the waiting game, but now I am so grateful for Ella’s perfect timing. I wouldn’t change a thing.
We had a nice little “trial-run” at the hospital on July 19, twelve days before her due date. I was having a bad headache with some weird vision problems, and when I called my doctor’s office they strongly suggested that we go into the hospital to get it checked out (they were concerned that I might be developing preeclampsia). So that evening, in the middle of a huge Texas rainstorm, we dropped sweet James off at our friends’ house and drove to the University Hospital. After a long check-in process (because the power at the hospital had briefly gone out!) we got to triage and they monitored me ALL NIGHT LONG. We were there for ten hours. It was a pretty busy night, lots of drama going on and we were sort of low on the totem pole since I wasn’t in active labor or anything. They checked my blood pressure over and over and monitored other things, and everything checked out just fine. Jonathan and I had a fun little “date night,” if you will, and played all sorts of games on his iPad and got very little sleep. While there, my contractions started getting stronger and more regular! I was having about four every ten minutes, and we were beginning to think that Ella was going to make her debut soon. The resident doctor thought that she would be making her debut in the next couple of days. He sent us home at about 3:30 in the morning to get some rest in our own bed, and we left with the hopes that we’d be back there soon!
The next day I frantically started to really get ready for baby Ella. I got my hospital bags all packed, packed a bag for James to take to a friend’s house, and finished up some last-minute preparations. Every day I would feel like Ella was coming really soon. Every night we’d time contractions while watching a show on Netflix. I was starting to get really uncomfortable and could tell that Ella was really low – I thought she was so close to coming!
We made it to my next doctor appointment that Friday, and then an entire other week with still no baby! Each day I was having more and more contractions. We walked around stores to get them going, and timed more and more regular contractions each night, just to have them slow down after going to bed. At my doctor appointment on Friday the 30th (the day before my due date), my doctor said he thought she was coming any day now, and he also offered me an induction that Sunday, because he was going to be at the hospital anyway. I immediately said that no thank you, I’d prefer that it just happen on its own. When we got in the car Jonathan said, “I can’t believe you turned that down! You want to have this baby so badly!” He did have a point. I began to wonder if maybe I’d made a mistake turning down the induction offer so quickly. Just in case, when we got home I called the doctor’s office and found out how to reach him in case I changed my mind.
By Saturday I had decided that if she didn’t come that night, that heck yes I wanted to be induced! I was so ready to have this baby. I also felt like I was so close to actually being in labor anyway that they really wouldn’t have to do much. That night I had a lot of contractions (and I could tell they were definitely more of the “real” variety – not just Braxton Hicks). I was determined to have this baby sometime in the next day! We thought we might just have to go into the hospital Saturday night, but I just never felt in pain enough to justify going to the hospital. It was a bit discouraging, because the contractions started slowing down again. I literally walked all around and around our house to try and keep them going. We went to bed late and decided to get up early and call the doctor and try and get in for an induction.
Sunday morning came and I was definitely having some contractions, but they didn’t seem super regular to me and I still was doing fine with the pain. I called the doctor and told him I’d like to be induced, and he said to go ahead and come on in! We were so excited! We got James all ready for church, grabbed our bags and took him over to our friends’ house – they were so kind to take him to church with them and to help take care of him. (We are also so grateful for the other family who took him in later that day and let him spend the night.) When we got back in the car and turned it on, the first thing to come on the radio was an Ella Fitzgerald song – so fitting I thought for the exciting occasion! It was a beautiful, clear morning and we were so happy to be going into the hospital during the day and not in the middle of the night.
We got all checked in – I was still feeling pretty good and really not in much pain. Sure enough, they started monitoring my contractions and they were pretty regular – and I was dilated to a 5! They told me that they no longer needed to induce me, that I was already in labor! They were also surprised when I rated my pain pretty low (don’t you hate rating your pain??) for how far dilated I was and how low she was. I was so happy and excited to meet our little Ella. And super excited that it was just happening on its own, and that the timing had worked out so perfectly. The hospital wasn’t too busy that morning, and all of the doctors and nurses were so wonderful.
We got in the labor and delivery room, and my contractions were getting stronger but still not unbearable. Part of me wonders how long I could have gone without the epidural…but I really am so grateful for epidurals and think they are wonderful. I got the epidural as my contractions started getting stronger. They did give me a little Pitocin to help the contractions be a little more regular. I was able to take a nice nap and it was so comfortable. I progressed quickly, and pretty soon around 3 or so in the afternoon I started feeling like I needed to push! My epidural was actually great because it was a little lopsided, and I could feel a whole lot more on one side. When I was in labor with James I couldn’t feel a thing, and I pushed for SO long. This time it was just strong enough to take the edge off the pain, but I was able to feel everything and be so much more involved.
