Hello Ellie! ~ Montrose & Mound

1/31/13

Hello Ellie!

She's here!

Katharine Elisabeth (Ellie) was born on Saturday, January 19th, 2013. 6lbs 9oz, 19in long.

Dominic was five days late and honestly, I expected the same thing from this little girl. Who would have thought she'd arrive six days early? Certainly not me! Or Brett.

I woke up a few times Friday night/Saturday morning with pressure, making it feel like I had to go to the bathroom. I didn't think anything of it though - after all, pregnant girls always have to pee, right?! Saturday morning was fine - nothing at all. Then, I went to lunch to celebrate my cousin's birthday. I kept having small contractions that felt like they were squeezing my bladder. I told my everyone about them, but still thought they were Braxton Hicks. I had never had that with Dominic. My aunts joked that it would be great timing to go into labor that night since Monday was a holiday. I just laughed it off.

Fast forward a few hours... I had decided to start timing the contractions because they seemed to be more regular. They were! 12 minutes apart...

Brett was helping his parents so I decided to text him to see when he might come home. He responded by asking me if Dom and I wanted to join them for dinner. I calmly replied that I was having contractions and probably shouldn't drive. Of course, he called me right away in disbelief.

Dominic meeting Ellie

Brett came right home and occupied Dominic. By that time, my contractions were down to about 7 minutes apart. But they still weren't super intense or that long. I called my mom to let her know we'd probably need her to come over for Dominic sometime that evening.

We soon decided that our plan would be to get Dominic to bed at 8pm and have my mom come over after that. We would then head to the hospital. The plan seemed to be working well, but all of a sudden, my contractions jumped to about 2 minutes apart and were very strong.

I was trying to relax my way through them while also getting ready to leave. All of a sudden, I decided that I needed to get into a bath. Dominic thinks that anyone taking a bath or shower has issued him an open invitation. I felt horrible that I had to fend him off while he was screaming to get in with me. I had imagined spending the last few minutes of him as my only child as quality time. No such luck! The pressure was so intense that I could not interact with him. And, I think I scared him with my loud grunting and weird movements.

Not long after getting in the bath, I heard a pop - my water had broken! Again, this didn't happen with Dominic. They had to break it at the hospital with him. I told Brett that he needed to get my mom here... NOW. I didn't tell him that it felt like I was pushing already.

I tried to get dressed by myself, but I couldn't really move. Brett helped me get clothes on and downstairs. Luckily, my mom just got there. We rushed out the door. Brett said he drove 85mph and wove in and out of traffic. I had my eyes closed the whole time, savoring the cold air, and gripping the door in pain.

We got to the hospital and were admitted to an exam room. I told them my water had broken, but the nurse didn't believe me because it hadn't soaked my pants. She checked me and said I was completely dilated and +1!! They wheeled me to the delivery room on the bed I was in, quickly got an IV started, and told me to push on my next contraction. Everyone was running around getting things ready for the baby. I didn't quite believe the doctor at first, until she said the baby had a lot of hair. And this was before I started pushing!

Big brother - gangsta style!

I pushed through one contraction and she was here! I couldn't believe it! I had told my doctor that if possible, I did not want an epidural or an episiotomy. Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to handle labor without the meds though. Thankfully, I didn't have time to get it and it didn't hurt once I got to the hospital. I was just happy to be able to push. I remember saying, "that feels better!" after I delivered her.

Goofy kids

I still couldn't believe how fast it all happened. Once we got to the hospital, I had a daughter within 25 minutes! I highly recommend this method if you can! Just give yourself enough time to get to the hospital! Brett thought he was going to deliver a baby that night.

Seriously though, it went very easy. Thankfully!! While the nurses were wrapping Ellie in her blankets, Brett joked that he was ready to go out to eat and go home. I fully agreed. I couldn't believe how great I felt.

Below are a whole-lotta pictures. I have a ton more that I'm sure I'll share eventually.

BTW, I was super busy with household projects before this sweet girl joined us. Some might call it nesting. I call it pushing myself to get stuff done before the deadline. I kept making to-do lists and crossing things off. I was on a mission. Stay tuned to see my projects. I just have to photograph them... you know, when I'm not nursing or playing with a two year old. Or, um, trying to clean up after him!

Did you have the crazy urge to nest/ redo everything in your house before having a baby? Or do you set crazy deadlines for yourself just so you get things done? For me, there is nothing like a deadline to get me moving.