Welcome to gravity

September 27, 2010… not Ellas birthday… time to hurry up and wait.

September 29, 2010, noon, contractions start. The start of my contractions were not to strong and continued to be weak until 3am.

September 30, 2010 We decided to go up to the hospital at 830am when my contractions got closer together. We got to the hospital and I was still only 2cm, at first we thought that they were going to send us home but then they heard that I was past due. By noon I was at 5cm and having heavier contractions. Sometime between 3 and 4 I finally reached 6cm and was becoming discouraged. At 530 my contractions were extremely intense and I was checked at 6 and was at 9 3/4 cm and ready for delivery… the intensity of the contractions was way worth the quickness of the dilation. I started pushing at 6pm and by 630 I was exhausted, I had not received an epidural so from the 30 hrs of contractions, so at my last push my dr. used forceps to pull Ella into the world. He told me afterwards that I was almost there he only used them to help pull out about 2 inches, so that was encouraging that I almost made it on my own.

My water had to be broken earlier in the day and there was meconium in the water so Ella had to be examined by the NICU nurses as soon as she came out. Luckily, everything is done in the room so Eric got to watch over her while I finished with the placenta. Everything was perfect with Ella and I soon got to hold her. She was so alert, looking around at everyone in the room and making funny faces and blowing bubbles. My favorite thing was about an hour later she farted and smiled… definitely our child 🙂

Grandparents where in the waiting room, so Eric went out to get them and they were overjoyed! We hung out and oohed and awed over Ella, and the Sims came to visit. It was great to see our friends and family after labor. We were moved from our very spacious delivery room to an equally spacious post-delivery room, where we are set up til Saturday when we can be released.

October 1, 2010. It was a long night. Eric got up to change Ella after I feed her, which was great! Around 5am she got the hiccups which were cute at first because she was squeaking but then she started to cry and oh it was just so sad. Later that morning the pediatrician came by and checked her out, she did not like this, but he said that she looks great!

Eric left around 9 to get ready for his interview (a company in Round Rock, TX, well be hearing soon about it) and Memaw (official grandma name for Barbara) came and stayed with me while he was gone and until her other grandparents came. For the rest of the day we just hung out and watched her sleep and smile. Eric had a couple adventures by being peed on and pooped on, that was rather amusing… We had a couple more visitors come by (Amanda, Lex, Cason, Jessica and Great Aunt Karen). Now we are at the end of the day just hanging around and getting to know our sweet girl.

October 2, 2010. We got to come home today but first Ella had to be checked over for discharge by the pediatrician. She ordered a bilirubin for Jaundice because Ella was just a little yellow. While we were waiting for the results of the bilirubin Ella had her first shot for Hep B, she actually handled it pretty well, it was just sad for us to see her so unhappy. The results for the bilirubin were a little high so she has to have phototherapy. Fortunately, this is something that can be done at home and we wouldn’t have to stay at the hospital for more days.

So finally we arrive at home to a cut out stork with a sign of Ella’s name, weight, length and birthday. When we walked in the grandparents had decorated with Happy Birthday banners and balloons along with some flowers that match the color of her room decorations! Such a great way for Ella to come home.

The home care from the hospital came with the phototherapy bed for Ella to sleep in for the next couple days til her bilirubin count is lower. She has to spend 16 out of 24 hours in the bed each day. She will be tested each day so we are hoping tomorrow when they come check her that the count will be higher and she wont have to continue the treatment for 3 days. She has been enjoying the treatment so far, she sleeps really well in it and looks like a little glow worm from the light from the bed.

Well that is all for now hope you enjoy some of the pictures through the experience. Ill be posting more pics as I gather them from grandparents and friends!