She's Here!!!

Our sweet Ella Marie arrived on Wednesday, February 22, two days after her due date. She made her first debut at 5:56am after only 5 hours of labor, start to finish. She weighs 8 lb. 9 oz. and is 21 inches long.

I didn't realize that I was in labor because the pain was so different from when I had William, and it was only about a third of the intensity. I started timing the "contractions" at 1am, they were every 5-7 minutes, but not much pain. I could talk through them. At 4am, they were 3-4 minutes apart, so I called the hospital and was told to go in. We finally left at 4:45am, I was sure I wasn't dilated very far, and almost waited a while longer. We checked in, and I found out I was dilated to 9cm, and my doctor, who would be there at 7am, wasn't going to make it. I was so surprised. The dr. on call barely made it for my water to break and for me to push. She was born shortly after that.



So, no pain meds, or any medical intervention. I had an episiotomy without anesthetic, luckily it blended in with the rest of the pain of delivery! : )
I've now experienced a completely medical involved birth, and one without. Very interesting difference, I must say if I can avoid it, I will never be induced again. I really didn't mind this labor, and could easily do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, I know I'm weird, but it was so much easier and much less painful than William's delivery, and I loved that I didn't have complications of my own!

Unfortunately, little Ella swallowed some of her meconium, had the cord wrapped around her neck and thigh, and had a plummeting heart rate. She ended up with hypoglycemia, so they had to work on her very quickly. I didn't get to hold her for almost an hour after she was born. I'm happy to report, she is doing beautifully now, and was able to come back to our room from the special care nursery by 8:30pm the night she was born.

William is excited to have a baby sister around, but is still learning lots of new things about babies. He wants to hold her, but still to shy to carry out that desire. He likes to look at her and wants to know where she's at. Last night when we went to pick William up from Grandma Christian's house, he didn't like the idea of Ella coming home with us. He said, "No, I want baby sister to stay here." Kinda funny, but his whole world has been flipped upside down. He hates it when she cries, it really bothers him. He will make a great older brother!