Becoming The Elies: Birth Story Part 2, July 31st...Truman's BirthDay!

So...after one trip to the hospital, 3 trips to my doctor, and another trip to the hospital, I was in active labor!!! Thank goodness! There is a good chance I would have hurt someone if I had been sent home that Tuesday night, ha ha. No, that's not the case because I didn't have the energy to hurt anyone. I don't think I was an angry preggo, more just a frustrated and tearful one. But you'd have to ask Chris to get an objective opinion on that! After the great news of being admitted to the labor and deliver floor, my next question was....you guessed it! When can I have an epidural?? She explained that they would have to hook my up to fluids first, draw blood and do labs and then if all was well, she would call the anesthesiologist.

I think just knowing that I was really going to have our baby soon relaxed me so much that I could dilate more. I know that everything you read says to relax through your contractions, breathe, and that will help you progress. I thought I was so prepared for labor, I read everything I could get my hands on while I was pregnant. And you could safely say that I was obsessed with reading other birth stories in hopes of preparing myself. Well..my time came and I could not relax through my contractions. I had SOOOOO much back pain. Everyone says back labor is the worst. I have to agree! Despite my best efforts, I would often hold my breath and Chris or Mom would be reminding me to breathe. So, after my labs came back, I had been given a bag of fluid I was able to get my epidural. And that shit is no joke! I've never been so happy, ha ha. I was a new woman after that. And everyone is right...the pain of the epidural is NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING to worry about. After you've been in labor for 40 gazillion hours with contractions from Hades, the needle is truly the least of your worries. The hardest part for me was trying to hold still during contractions while he was placing it in my back. They had me sit on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and hugging the nurse while he put it in. And it stinks, but they wouldn't allow anyone to stay in the room with me while it was done. But honestly, I didn't even care. I just wanted relief...and that is exactly what I got. After the epidural kicked in, I started texting people that it was officially baby time! Before that there was no chance I could even concentrate long enough to send out a text. That was about 1:30am.


Post epidural...hence the smile on my face :)

After I settled down a little, we all decided we should try to get some rest. Chris went down to the car to try and sleep a bit, Mom stayed with me in the room and slept in the rocker. I dozed in and out of sleep, but I did get a couple of hours of rest. That was the most rest I had had in over 24 hours so I felt great when I woke up. I woke up to the screams of a girl next door :/ Eek! That is not comforting at all. Apparently she had woken up in the middle of the night to her water breaking and INTENSE contractions. She was able to have IV pain meds but there was no time for an epidural. POOR THING. I laid there in horror listening to her. Poor Chris was coming back on the floor as she was screaming. When he went downstairs I was the only one up there, so when he came back and heard that he was terrified it was me. He bolted into the room and then realized it was coming from next door, ha ha. Nearly gave him a heart attack. They checked me again early in the morning, and while I was making progress it was slow go. At about 7am Chris left to go get his Mom and bring her to be with us. The morning wore on. The epidural had worn off quite a bit and I was getting very uncomfortable. My favorite midwife, Kelly came on shift that morning. She was the one I had seen Monday. I was so very happy that she would be the one delivering our baby. She was so encouraging and supportive and assured me that everything would be fine. With the help of some Pitocin, I progressed throughout the morning. Around 9am, one of my best friends came, Noel, and then my sister Melinda came. At that point I was getting pretty emotional, tired, and anxious. They took turns rubbing my back, talking with me and being helpful distractions! I was so ready to get this show on the road. The nurses checked on me often, constantly having me change positions. Laying on my left side seemed to work the best, I dilated faster when laying on that side. Kelly decided that since that side seemed to work best for the baby, I would lay on my side when it came time to push. The last time I was checked was around 11am. She said that I was in fact complete, 10cm dilated but that she would like me to sit up in the bed and let gravity do the work for a little longer. She said that that baby still needed to come down a bit and as long as I could stand it, to let him move down on his own. This would hopefully help me to not have to push for so long. So up I went, sitting like Buddha in the hospital bed. I tolerated that for as long as I could, but at about 11:45 I couldn't stand it anymore and felt like I had to push. My sister went and got the nurses and Kelly. They all came in, I said my goodbyes to my Mom, Tina, my sister, and Noel as we wanted the birth to only be me and Chris. It was an emotional time but so happy.


The last pic of us as a twosome. Moments before I started pushing.

Kelly and Chris helped me get into position. Bless Chris, he saw what no man should ever have to. Ha ha. It's funny because throughout my pregnancy I said I wanted Chris to be by me head, no where near "down there" when I was pushing. But, with him holding my leg, supporting me physically and emotionally, me half naked and the position I was in, there was no good way to be. Oh well, at the time I didn't care and now I'm happy that he was able to watch the birth of our son. He helped me more than anyone, there is no chance I could have done it without him. Kelly explained to me how to push and we were off. She had me hold my breath and push 3 times for 10 seconds at a time through each contraction. We started pushing at about 11:55am. I took a couple of breaks but for the most part powered though. I had no idea if I was doing it right. They were very encouraging but I had no clue if I would be pushing for 20 minutes or 3 hours! I wanted to meet our baby and I wanted the pain to be over. At the point that Chris told me he could see his head and that he had hair, that was all the motivation I needed. I wanted to see him too! When he was crowning, it was the worst burn I could ever imagine, but Kelly had me reach down and feel his head. I started crying then and couldn't believe this was really happening!! I looked up at Chris and loved him so much...it's surreal thinking back on it now. Truman Jay was born at 12:06pm.


8 pounds, 6 ounces, and 21 inches long.

Chris holding him for the first time :)

Our first family picture.

We fell in love pretty fast. He was so completely perfect and beautiful. I couldn't believe that we made this little person. Hearing him cry was the best sound I'd ever heard! Chris cut his cord, and after we spent time bonding with him and doing Kangaroo Care, we wanted our Moms to come back in and meet him! I was ready to show this handsome little thing off :) The rest of our time in the hospital honestly was a whirlwind. We were overwhelmed with company and love. Everyone was so excited to meet this little guy. I have about a bazillion pictures to go through but here are a few of my favorites from my iphone. There will be many more to come later!!!