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Elliana's drive-thru birth story!

CubbyMamaCubbyMama
in Parenting

We have company coming over, so I'm going to try to be quick here, but have been dying to share Elliana's birth story with you all!

So you all know I spent the weekend having contractions about 10 minutes apart, and they'd be regular for a few hours and then go away again.  My mom was all nervous (she had 3 c-sections and isn't too familiar with labor except for what happens in movies) and I kept telling her, "Relax! It's going to take forEVER...the baby is not falling out of me anytime soon!"  Ironically, that's practically what ended up happening!

Saturday night, the contrax were down to about 6 minutes apart when we went to bed at 11pm, but they still weren't very painful.  At 12:30am, I woke up and had a few stronger ones 5 minutes apart, so I got up and debated over whether to call my sister to come over.  I finally did call her, but told her, "No rush--it'll probably be hours, if it's even tonight, but you might as well get settled over here."

I let DH sleep while my sister got here, and we chatted on the couch for about an hour before I woke up DH and he got in the shower.  When he got out, I decided to take one, too...and blow-dried my hair...and at that point, I was having to stop to breathe through the contractions, but they still weren't horrible.  We left for the hospital around 3am.

It's about a 30-minute drive in no traffic to the hospital, and in that time, the contractions started coming harder and some of them were only 3 minutes apart.  Still, I didn't think there was any way I could be TOO far along, and I was still able to chat with DH between them, so I wasn't very worried.  I did tell DH, though, "Forget the whole maybe thing--I am SO getting an epidural!  These are way more painful than they ever got with Keira." 

We got to the hospital around 3:30am, and while we were waiting for the nurse to come in to check me, the contractions started getting really painful and only 2 minutes apart.  This would be the point where I went from breathing through them, to becoming That Moaning Lady you always see/hear on TV, and I'm pretty sure the nurses still thought I was way overreacting...until one of them finally checked me and said, "She's at 8!" and some serious scurrying around started!

DH called both sets of parents and told them to head over, fast.

My first words were, "Can I still have an epidural?"  They said yes, but that they had to start my IV first...and then they couldn't find a vein.  All the while they tried, I'm having contractions (yelling through them now) and one nurse is asking me all the lame questions they have to ask you and enter into the laptop (who cares if I brought a camera?!). 

After a few really close contractions, the nurse checked me again and yelled, "She's at TEN!"

Insert panic attack here.

I was TERRIFIED.  I said, "Can I still have an epidural?" and they laughed and said, "Honey, you're almost done!"  And then I became That Woman You Want to Slap on "A Baby Story."  I begged for an epidural, said, "I can't do this...please, somebody help me!" several times (now having contractions like crazy) and generally started to freak out.  Luckily, no one had to b*tch slap me, because I didn't get to carry on for longer than a few seconds before I got the feeling that my entire pelvic area was about to explode...and then it did!  My water burst like a tidal wave, I felt it gush out all over the place, and they started telling me to stop pushing when the head came out.  I remember thinking, "Am I pushing?!" 

After that, it all went insane.  I had my eyes closed and never really knew exactly when her head was out, but I blew through contractions when they told me to, gave one big push and felt her whole body come out, and there she was!

Our parents hadn't even left the house yet when they got the second call, about 15 minutes after the first one, saying, "It's a girl!"  We had gotten to the room at 3:45am, and Elliana Michelle was born at 4:04am. 

There were a few scary moments after she came out and one of the nurses called out, "We have meconium--NICU nurses stand by!" so I was really worried, but her APGARS were 8 and 9 and she hadn't aspirated any.

Even if she hadn't been born in an "even" minute (per our "who gets to pick the name?" deal), DH said, "Uh, you did this with no drugs--you're naming her no matter what!"  It took me a good two hours to decide that she looks more like an Elliana, and knew that almost everyone liked that name better than Raina, so that's what I chose.

I can tell you this: there really is no adequate expletive for how painful that was!  This was the complete opposite of my long, calm delivery with Keira, after which I didn't feel a thing for 3 hours, thanks to an awesome epidural. This time, I felt the doctor stitch me up despite the so-called numbing shots he gave me--I guess I got an episiotomy and he did 3 layers of stitches, so it took forfreakingever--and that was no fun, either.  I don't think I'd choose to go drug-free again!

On the other hand, my recovery has been great.  We left the hospital last night at 9:30pm, so I was there less than 18 hours total.  I have less bleeding, less pain, and no wacky hormonal crying jags like I did for a few days after Keira was born.  My belly is definitely not ready for a bathing suit, but I cannot believe how much it has gone down already!  Elliana is nursing well (milk's not in yet, of course), has a touch of jaundice, and slept two 3-hour stretches last night, so in general, it's been the complete opposite of my experience with DD, just like all of you moms of 2 said it would be!

Family's here and Ellie's ready for a feeding, but here are a couple of pics.  Obviously, we have very few from the delivery room, and none I'd care to post--I look like something out of a horror movie in all of them!  I miss the Nest and can't wait to have a little more time to catch up--hope more babies have come along since I was on last!

This was in recovery:

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Today at her checkup, in the onesie DD helped me make for her:

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Kiwi Fruit, 10.2.06 & Ellie Bug, 4.5.09

My blog: Bear With Us
Ideas on Teaching Your Toddler/Preschooler at Home

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