The Countdown

Well, as many of you know I have not been keeping up with the blog like I should be. So let me see what I can do to catch you all up...

We started going to the doctor weekly at 36 weeks. At my first checkup I was 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I was so excited to hear this news hoping that little Ellie would come early. I was scared to pack my bags or start washing Ellie's clothes because I thought it might jinx how I was progressing. I even refused to put the carseat in the car.

Well, at my 37 week appointment I got a little disappointed because I hadn't made very much progress. I was between 1 1/2 and 2 cm and 75% effaced. Keep in mind that this appointment was on Thursday, August 19th. Patrick finally talked me into putting the carseat into the car and I caved. I still had not washed many clothes or packed a bag. In addition I was working around the house to make sure everything was picked up and clean for my mom's surprise 50th birthday party. I took the 20th off of work to make sure all of the final details for Mom's party were finished. We got through the party (which will be another post) and everything went great. On Sunday Patrick and I just chilled on the couch and were the biggest bums. I finally decided I wanted to get out of the house, so we went and grabbed a bite at Cracker Barrel (don't ask...I was craving pancakes). We got home about 7 and I started feeling sick to my stomach. We ended up going to bed around 10 only after I made a call list for the hospital and a "what to pack" list. I still had not actually packed my bag.

Well, about 3:30 Monday morning I shot straight up in bed with the strangest pain in my stomach. I didn't think I was in labor, I just thought I had eaten something bad since I was feeling bad the night before. The pains kept coming and going and I finally started timing them. They were exactly 7-8 minutes apart. This went on for 2 hours and at 5:30 Patrick finally talked me into calling the nurse. They told me to get to the hospital immediately. Apparently if you are having contractions less than 10 minutes apart for over an hour then you should go straight to the hospital - nobody bothered to inform me of this. So I told them I would be there in about 45 minutes. Well instead of freaking out and getting to the hospital I decided to take a shower and FINALLY pack a bag (good thing I made that list the night before). So 2 hours later we show up at the hospital and my contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. I was checked and was told I was 3 cm and was definitely having a baby. WHAT?!?!?! Seriously?!?!? I was in complete shock! So we walked down the hall into a room and about 15 minutes later Dr. Heaton came to check me. I had progressed from 3 cm to 7 cm in 15 minutes. Holy $hit was the only thing I could say! So the doc told me I was a perfect candidate for natural labor, but at the last second I elected to get an epidural. I really wasn't in much pain, but I didn't want to get to that point either. The nurse (Amy) asked my pain level and when I said a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 she about reached over and slapped me. It was hysterical. She said she was not about to write down a 2 and put a 4 in my chart.

So the epidural caused things to slow down a little and by 11:30 I was 10 cm and was told to start pushing. Really? Again, I was still in complete shock that I was actually about to have a baby. After about an hour of pushing Miss Ellie made her grand entrance into this world. She came just in time because Dr. Woods had a scheduled surgery at 12:30 and she was born at 12:30 on the dot. Luckily he was able to deliver her and take care of me afterwards. The first thing I said after they took her to clean her up was "well that wasn't that bad...I would do it again in a heartbeat." She was (and still is) the most beautiful child I have ever seen in my life! Patrick was absolutely amazing as well. He was there for me every step of the way. He got really good at counting to 10 and handing me ice chips. We are so blessed to have this beautiful little girl in our lives! She has changed everything for the better.