Baby Ellie is Here!

So, I’ve been pretty MIA from the blog the past few days. Weird how having a tiny human around that never sleeps for more than 2 hours at a time will do that…

Sunday morning started like this:

Still pregnant, and well-rested for the last time for who knows how long!

We got to the hospital around 11 AM to start the induction, and the first 12 hours we just hung out waiting for things to get going. I had a couple rounds of Cytotec, watched a bunch of crappy daytime television, and went for a few walks with Mike.

By that night things had progressed enough to start Pitocin, and for a few hours the contractions weren’t too bad so I walked around a lot, snacked a little, and tried to rest. Then things got a little more intense (and by that I mean the pain was pretty nuts and I was over it) and I knew I was ready for the epidural.

The anesthesiologist came and within half an hour the pain had diminished and I was definitely feeling pretty awesome. I wasn’t sure what to expect getting an epidural, but it went in quickly and easily, I could feel contractions but they didn’t bother me, and I could still feel my legs and move my feet a little bit (plus the baby’s heart rate stayed where it was and so did my blood pressure, which was nice).

The next 12 hours I napped off and on and things kept progressing. By 2 PM the nurses said I’d be ready to push soon, which honestly kind of freaked me out. But we listened to my pump up song (All These Things That I’ve Done by the Killers) and Mike reminded me that I could totally do this. I started pushing a little before 3 (holy crap, it is HARD – I have NO idea how people do that for hours. I was almost ready to give up after 15 minutes, but they put up a mirror so I could see her head and that totally motivated me)

By 3:21 Eleanor Jane arrived (TMI warning… the pushing made me feel really queasy and I ended up throwing up, which apparently just the right thing to do because it pushed her out!) She was 21″ long and 7 lbs 10 ounces. She’s an AMAZING baby and we absolutely adore her.

I cannot say enough about how absolutely wonderful the hospital staff was. All the doctors and nurses were so sweet and supportive, and I always felt like I had plenty of information and options.

We’ve been home for two nights now and I’m still getting used to being completely sleep-deprived and having milk end up all over everything, but I love this baby girl!