Eloise is finally here! This is her birth story...
(WARNING: its a long one, folks!)
Julian and I spent Thanksgiving at my parents house with my family. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of food and football. There was a really good game on that night, so we stayed pretty late watching it. We got home around 9pm and spent some time hanging with the dogs since they had been by themselves all day. We were so exhausted and headed to bed around 10. At 10:30, while I was slowly starting to fall into a deep sleep, my water broke. I wasn't sure what it was exactly but I felt a lot of discharge. I went to the bathroom to find my underwear soaked and that I was non-stop dripping. Thank goodness I got up fast enough that it didn't get on our bed or our sheets! Once my water broke I called my doctor and got the answering service. They asked a few questions and told me that the doctor on call would call me soon. Now don't get me wrong, I liked all of the doctors in the practice, but the one I liked the least amount was Dr. Saez-Lacy. Guess who was on call that night? You got it, Dr. Saez-Lacy. She called and asked how far along I was ( 38 1/2 weeks) and if I passed the group B strep test (yes). She then told me to wait until my contractions were 5 minutes apart to go to the hospital. If they weren't 5 minutes apart by 7am, I should go to the hospital. She suggested Julian and I get some rest...YEA RIGHT! We were both too excited/nervous to get any sleep. So we counted contractions. At first, I wasn't sure what a contraction was. But, as they got more intense and closer together I quickly found out. By 1:30am we were headed to the hospital. So, I labored at home for about 4 hours. Once at the hospital, I was really feeling the contractions. I filled out a bunch of paperwork, answered all kinds of questions, and got hooked up to a million machines. At this point, I was in so much pain I couldn't wait to get some sort of pain medicine. I had to be 2 cm to get the first "loopy" medicine (stedanol sp?). Well, when I was checked I was only 1/2 cm but 80% effaced. Even though I was disappointed about not being 2cm, they said being 80% effaced was great because that usually takes first time moms a while. So, I had to labor through it without meds until I was 2cm. I tried EVERYTHING. I changed positions, I breathed, I TRIED to do relaxation things, I got in the shower. Nothing could help me get in the right state of mind to handle the pain. At one point, Julian was napping, and all I wanted was my IPOD. So, I tried waking him up by throwing things at him. That didn't work so I had to call the nurse to wake him up to drive home at 4am to get my IPOD. He barely remembers it and swears that he slept drove. The funny thing is, I never even used the IPOD. Once I got the "loopy" medicine, I fell right asleep. I could still feel the contractions, but it definitely took the edge off long enough for me to get a little sleep. I was still moaning through the contractions, but it was so much better. Once that wore off, I was begging for the epidural. But, again, I needed to be 5cm and I wasn't. So I moaned and groaned until the doctor said it was time for the epidural. Boy oh boy, it was the worst pain ever. During all of this I promised I was never going to do it again (ummm... that totally wore off). I was so happy when it was time for the epidural. The epidural made everything from my waist down numb. It was the craziest feeling. I didn't like it at all, and wanted it to be over. I regretted saying that! Once the epidural wore off, it was time to push. Feeling EVERYTHING while pushing was not fun...I would much prefer the wierd tingling of the epidural. Pushing lasted almost 2 hours and was 100x worse than the contractions. I thought I was going to die. I begged for any sort of drug, a c-section, anything. I was sooo tired and I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I moaned, cried, screamed, cursed, and yelled at Julian. It was probably the worst experience (pain wise) of my life. I pledged to NEVER do it again (like I said before, you totally forget how awful it is when you see the sweet angel). When Eloise finally made her way out, it was the best feeling of relief I had ever felt. It was amazing! They laid her on my chest and she was screaming and crying and all I could say was, "is she normal?" Julian teared up and I just couldn't believe I had a baby girl. They cleaned her off and took her so that I could deliver the placenta, get my uterus to contract, and get sewn up (I had a first degree tear). Then, it was euphoria from there. She was and still is perfect. Beautiful big eyes, brown hair, and a perfect pink color. She nursed like a champ (and still does). I feel so blessed to have her in my life. God really does amazing things and I am so lucky that He entrusted her to me. She is my angel and I can't wait to watch her grow up.
Julian and I spent Thanksgiving at my parents house with my family. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of food and football. There was a really good game on that night, so we stayed pretty late watching it. We got home around 9pm and spent some time hanging with the dogs since they had been by themselves all day. We were so exhausted and headed to bed around 10. At 10:30, while I was slowly starting to fall into a deep sleep, my water broke. I wasn't sure what it was exactly but I felt a lot of discharge. I went to the bathroom to find my underwear soaked and that I was non-stop dripping. Thank goodness I got up fast enough that it didn't get on our bed or our sheets! Once my water broke I called my doctor and got the answering service. They asked a few questions and told me that the doctor on call would call me soon. Now don't get me wrong, I liked all of the doctors in the practice, but the one I liked the least amount was Dr. Saez-Lacy. Guess who was on call that night? You got it, Dr. Saez-Lacy. She called and asked how far along I was ( 38 1/2 weeks) and if I passed the group B strep test (yes). She then told me to wait until my contractions were 5 minutes apart to go to the hospital. If they weren't 5 minutes apart by 7am, I should go to the hospital. She suggested Julian and I get some rest...YEA RIGHT! We were both too excited/nervous to get any sleep. So we counted contractions. At first, I wasn't sure what a contraction was. But, as they got more intense and closer together I quickly found out. By 1:30am we were headed to the hospital. So, I labored at home for about 4 hours. Once at the hospital, I was really feeling the contractions. I filled out a bunch of paperwork, answered all kinds of questions, and got hooked up to a million machines. At this point, I was in so much pain I couldn't wait to get some sort of pain medicine. I had to be 2 cm to get the first "loopy" medicine (stedanol sp?). Well, when I was checked I was only 1/2 cm but 80% effaced. Even though I was disappointed about not being 2cm, they said being 80% effaced was great because that usually takes first time moms a while. So, I had to labor through it without meds until I was 2cm. I tried EVERYTHING. I changed positions, I breathed, I TRIED to do relaxation things, I got in the shower. Nothing could help me get in the right state of mind to handle the pain. At one point, Julian was napping, and all I wanted was my IPOD. So, I tried waking him up by throwing things at him. That didn't work so I had to call the nurse to wake him up to drive home at 4am to get my IPOD. He barely remembers it and swears that he slept drove. The funny thing is, I never even used the IPOD. Once I got the "loopy" medicine, I fell right asleep. I could still feel the contractions, but it definitely took the edge off long enough for me to get a little sleep. I was still moaning through the contractions, but it was so much better. Once that wore off, I was begging for the epidural. But, again, I needed to be 5cm and I wasn't. So I moaned and groaned until the doctor said it was time for the epidural. Boy oh boy, it was the worst pain ever. During all of this I promised I was never going to do it again (ummm... that totally wore off). I was so happy when it was time for the epidural. The epidural made everything from my waist down numb. It was the craziest feeling. I didn't like it at all, and wanted it to be over. I regretted saying that! Once the epidural wore off, it was time to push. Feeling EVERYTHING while pushing was not fun...I would much prefer the wierd tingling of the epidural. Pushing lasted almost 2 hours and was 100x worse than the contractions. I thought I was going to die. I begged for any sort of drug, a c-section, anything. I was sooo tired and I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I moaned, cried, screamed, cursed, and yelled at Julian. It was probably the worst experience (pain wise) of my life. I pledged to NEVER do it again (like I said before, you totally forget how awful it is when you see the sweet angel). When Eloise finally made her way out, it was the best feeling of relief I had ever felt. It was amazing! They laid her on my chest and she was screaming and crying and all I could say was, "is she normal?" Julian teared up and I just couldn't believe I had a baby girl. They cleaned her off and took her so that I could deliver the placenta, get my uterus to contract, and get sewn up (I had a first degree tear). Then, it was euphoria from there. She was and still is perfect. Beautiful big eyes, brown hair, and a perfect pink color. She nursed like a champ (and still does). I feel so blessed to have her in my life. God really does amazing things and I am so lucky that He entrusted her to me. She is my angel and I can't wait to watch her grow up.
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