the goods

She's finally here!!!! We just got home from being at the hospital since Wednesday. I went in for my 40-week appt. and they decided to induce. The dr. started me on pitocin to start contractions (though by then, I was already contracting every 5 minutes) and a saline IV to keep me hydrated - at 10 pm on Wednesday. It worked well - in no time, my contractions were 2 minutes apart. At this point, the worst part was that I wasn't allowed to eat and I was HUNGRY. I was hooked up to several monitors - one for contractions, one for Ella's heartbeat, one for my heartbeat, the two IVs, and a blood pressure cuff that was set to go off every 15 minutes. Despite it all, I felt fine.

After a few hours, I was checked and had only dilated to 1.5 cm. But... by 10 the next morning, I was at 4 cm/90% effaced. They asked me if I wanted the epidural and I decided to hold out for a little while. Brady and I started to play cards... and then my water broke (though it was more of a trickle). At that point, I was 5 cm and opted for the epidural. While I was sitting really still for the anesthesiologist (who was putting the catheter in my back), my water REALLY broke. Kind of a gross feeling. But I was glad I had asked for relief just in time. After that, I was stuck in bed - numb from the waist down, but still able to move my legs and feet. Everything progressed rather quickly after that and I was 9.5 cm by 4 and ready to go shortly after.

I didn't start pushing until around 7 and was thinking it was pretty easy... for the first 2 hours. I didn't really feel much pain and seemed to be making progress, but then I got a fever of 102.9 and Ella's heart rate went up to over 180. Then they decided that I needed to get her out quick. I eased up on the epidural so that I could feel more of the pain and help out with the pushing. Not the most fun thing I had ever done, but up until that point, labor hadn't really been that bad. After another hour of pushing and not quite enough progress (her head had crowned, but I couldn't push it out), the Dr. gave me a choice: forceps/vacuum or a c-section. We weren't too happy about having to make the decision, but at that point I really wanted her out!!! Forceps it was. She was already partly out, and that was the easiest solution.

Ella was born at 10:12 pm on Thursday, September 7, weighing in at 6 lbs/15 oz and 19 inches long. She had to be put on an IV for a few days, due to my high temperature during delivery. But all the test results came back and she is just fine - and really happy to get that IV out of her arm. We started breastfeeding right away and are still getting used to each other, but all in all it is going rather well. We're on about a 3-hour schedule of feeding and then sleeping. She's incredibly sweet - like a little doll - and makes funny little faces in her sleep. Ella and Brady get a long really well. He's great with her and she just loves looking at him and listening to his voice. As I type, they're napping on the couch together in front of a football game :-)

It's all very exciting and a little overwhelming, but I'm just relieved to finally be home... and not be pregnant!!!!