c&cmiller: Ella's Early Delivery
Posted
Monday, January 18, 2010 10:19 AM
"My husband and I were lying on the couch... when suddenly there was a pop and then a gush."
Surprise! Baby’s coming…
This was our first baby and I had a very healthy pregnancy with zero complications. I had just had my third and last baby shower two days before when I went into labor. My husband and I were lying on the couch watching 24 (we didn't want to watch the election coverage) and my water broke. It was very clear to me that it was in fact my water breaking because there was a pop and then a gush. It was exactly 10 pm and my husband and I were a little freaked out because I had gone to my 35 week check-up that day and everything was normal. I wasn't dilated or effaced and there were no signs that I would go into labor. After my check-up I had gone grocery shopping and then came home to make taco salads with my husband.
Off to the hospital
So, back to us being a little freaked out...we were still laughing and all giddy because we knew that we would get to meet our new baby girl very soon. We didn't really even think about the fact that I was 5 weeks early! We were just excited and a little nervous...oh who am I kidding? We were extremely nervous. We called our parents on the way to the hospital and they met up with us shortly after that. It was 11 pm when we arrived at the hospital. I was 1 1/2 cm dilated and my contractions were a couple minutes apart. The contractions quickly became more intense and were only seconds apart at this point. Within a short time I was 4 cm dilated. I had wanted to wait as long as possible for an epidural (if I was even going to get one) but at that point I was having some major pain so I asked for it. Within the time they tried (key word being "tried") administering my epi, I dilated to 9 cm. From 4 cm to 9 cm within 30 minutes!!!
My epidural wasn’t working and the anesthesiologist told my husband when he realized that it wasn’t going to. Labor was progressing too quickly for him to even give me a full dose. Minutes after he told me I wouldn’t be getting an epidural, I felt the urge to push. Unfortunately, my doc wasn't even there yet. The nurse had called him but he didn't expect my labor to progress as quickly as it did. From the time my water broke until I was 9 cm dilated, it had only been about 3 1/2 hours.
Here comes Ella!
My doc ran in, slipped his gloves and gown on and I pushed a good 5 times really hard and out our sweet little Ella Michelle came with a HUGE splash! My doc even moved back to avoid getting splashed. She was absolutely beautiful, healthy and my labor only took 4 1/2 hours total!
Needless to say we didn't have much ready at home for her since I had just had my last baby shower 2 days before and she was 5 weeks early. My mom stayed with us for the first week and I swear I couldn't have made it without her help and love!
Our Ella is now 13 months old and is the sweetest thing ever!
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