My Oldest Daughter turns Four tomorrow! Four? How could this be? It seems like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital!
:: This is a note entry I wrote on Facebook::
Ellenore Louise Grabenstetter was born November 26th, 2008 @ 12:44am. She was 19" long and weighed 6lbs .014 oz. I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. For all of you who know anything about gestation and pregnancy, you will know that this is 2 days shy of being full term. ( which is 37 weeks) complete term is 40 weeks. Some people don't carry that long, others go over that amount of time. I, on the other hand, was not expecting to deliver a baby on Wednesday the 26th. So...
here's the story:
I went into work, just like any other morning. I was expecting to pull an all day shift. I was having some contractions and back pain the night before and the Dr. told me to take a bath and take it easy. Well, sure enough I went to work the next day. As I was sitting down at the computer to do my morning ritual work, I noticed a gush a fluid that was a little more that is "supposed " to come out. I assumed a little came out with standing and sitting because the baby was applying pressure to my bladder... or at least, this is what I was lead to believe by people around me who were pregnant or who had been pregnant before. But I got a little leery when this "more than normal" amount came out of me. Which means to people who have not experienced this, I left a little wet spot on my chair and on my pants. So, I called the Dr was told that they would probably send me to the hospital by a nurse. I immediately texted Andy to "come get me." He said he was on his way. Then the nurse got back on the phone and told me to come into the Dr's office so that they could do a non stress test on the baby. Well okay. I thought " they're gonna do this test, tell me that everythings fine, that I'm having Braxton Hicks and then tell me not to work 60 hours this week like I did the week before. Then I'm gonna go home and take a bath and wait another 3.5 weeks for the baby." So, I get to the Dr's office with Andy and she does the NST. This reveals that I am, indeed, having contractions. No problem, I knew that. So, then she does a pelvic exam. This was a little upsetting when I scooted towards her on the table and she said " oh my, you ARE leaking, aren't you?" So, they did an ultrasound and revealed the my fluid level was at 7% where it needed to be at 24%. They took us back into the examining room and our midwife said she was going to go talk to the Dr for a minute and would be right back. I think this was probably about 2 minutes but felt like I stared at Andy for like 30. So, Sue ( our midwife ) came back into the room and told us that there was no reason for me to be pregnant anymore. I was in labor, my water had broken, but I was not dilating on my own... so they needed to induce labor. Wow, My head was spinning. I remember looking at Andy and both of us kinda smiled and laughed nervously. So, we got into the truck and tried to call everyone. When only my dad answered and I told him what was going on, I then texted my sister and mom " Having a Baby Today." My Mom said that she was driving her bus and had one of the girls on her bus read the text message to her... and then mom got so excited she missed the turn where she was supposed to go. :) Anyways, we got to the hospital and checked in. Our room was huge and nice and had a couch and a closet. It was cozy. This was around 4pm. I got settled in and then they started my I.V. and what not. Then the medicine to get me dilated came soon after. That was around 5pm. Contractions were minor and I couldn't feel anything at this point. They were a slight annoyance. Andy had to tell me when I was having one. Around 10pm I wanted to have a minor pain reliever to dull the pain a little bit. 30 minutes later all that did was make me throw up. at this point I was dilated to a 4 and the pain was more severe than I could deal with. Only because dealing with the back contractions were so painful that it was making me tired trying to deal with them. I told the nurse that it was more important for me to keep my strength when it came time to push, so I needed the epidural. She said that was very smart. I had the epidural at around 11pm. I then could take a minor nap; and at 11:45 the nurse came in to check me and I was dilated to a 10. I needed the pain meds for my body to relax enough for me to dilate. They then called Sue and at 12:05 I started pushing. Sue showed up around 12:20 and then by 12:44 the baby was out. I pushed around 3 times every contraction. It didn't hurt to push, I just pushed so hard that I felt like my face was going to explode. I wanted the baby out! I'm gonna say that it wasn't hard.... and I'd do it again and again if they;re all like that. She actually helped herself out. At one point, when her head was out, she was wriggling enough to make herself come out a little bit. Andy said that she came out with her eyes open, looking around at everyone. I did not witness this. I did, however, get to touch her head while that was happening. Andy watched the whole ordeal, even though he said they he wouldn't. He also cut the umbilical cord even though he said he wouldn't do that either. Our midwife said that I was made for birthing babies. The nurses and Sue said I did an excellent job and made everyone's job a little easier. I did need 7 stitches afterwards. I don't know why, but the only thing that EVER freaked me out about childbirth was the episiotomy. I don't know why. Jenny Mcarthy was freaked about pooping on the table ( which I didn't, by the way ) I was freaked about getting my gooch sliced open. Yep, I said it. I didn't have to, and I only tore a tiny bit. After Elle was born they put her right on top of me and I got to hold her. I need to put that photo up. She was so beautiful and all I could do was smile and look at her. I wanted Andy to hold her so bad because he's been waiting to touch her since the day we found out about her. He was able to feel her kick, but not in the same way I did. So, I wanted him to hold his daughter so badly. He got to. They wanted to give me the baby and I told them to let Andy hold his daughter. It was amazing. It's corny... but the two people I love more than anything... seeing that was amazing. Then I got to feed her and hold her. Then they took her away to do tests and clean her. Much after that is a blur. I was so tired and hungry at that point. I made Andy go get me a Snickers from the vending machines. :) Andy was amazing in the hospital. He changed her diapers and held her and spent the nights by my side. He brought me red roses and Elle tiny yellow ones. He's so sweet. He's a great Daddy already. He impresses me every day with how much he loves her. We both love her so much. We're now a family. The Grabenstetters. :) We're happy.
I love this little girl so much. My First baby. <3 She's our Red Head! :)
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