happy BIRTHday ellery!

The day started early (6:15am) I got woke up by Dr. Brandes (not like I actually slept last night) to check and see if I am making any progress towards labor. When I checked in they said I still was only dilated to a 2 1/2... in the morning I was almost a 4! So some progress had been made and the dr decided that she was going to break my water and see if that also put pressure on my body to start going into labor. GUSH is all I can say to explain what getting your water felt like...WOW so much water (disgusting I know) but with in a few minutes contractions started and were less than 2 minutes apart. The nurses also started me on a small dosage of pitocin to make sure the contractions kept coming. Oh boy and did they keep coming. It was less than a half an hour that I was in so much pain I wanted the epidural. I tried walking the pain off but that didn't help at all. My lower back hurt so back in 30 second increments every couple minutes.

Finally at about 8:15 the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. (apparently there was some big surgery she was involved in and that's why it took so long for her to get it to me) It only took 1 attempt to get the catheter in the correct position and it didn't even hurt (my back pain was my main focus) but within minutes I was completely numb from the mid-waist down! AMAZING!!

The nurses continued to check my cervix and at noon I was at an 8! They said I was progressing very fast and hopefully we would start pushing soon! Soon was correct. At 12:45 the nurses moved me to the labor room next door and started explaining the "correct" and "most effective" way to push. At 1:00 the nurses checked me at said I was at a 10 and it was TIME! I started to push every couple minutes and I felt like I was getting no where. The problem the nurses said was that my epidural was making it so I couldn't feel my contractions so I wasn't pushing at the right times or for the right lengths of time. So they recommended turning the epidural off. I agreed, figuring that it needed to be done to have this baby. Well with the contractions (which were not that bad) came the back pain (which was HORRIBLE) Chad had 2 jobs while I was in labor: #1 count back from 10 three times for me during each contraction so I knew how long to push. #2 push hard on my hip bones to offset the back pain and take the pressure off my sciatic nerve (the reason for back pain). Well I pushed and pushed and pushed for an hour and a half and at 2:30 on the dot Ellery Sue Weiland made her entry into this world.

Ellery Sue Weiland
Dec 21, 2011
2:30pm
8lbs 10 oz
22 inches long

She was a big baby! They put her on the scale and all of us in the room were amazed at how big she was (especially because I was measuring small) 8lbs 10 oz! I seriously was guessing that she was going to be more in the 7lb range...apparently not. She was also a LONG baby: 22 inches long. I do not know how she ever fit inside of me... let alone how she was so active in there. Well being such a big baby I am not going to lie... I had a 3rd degree tear and had to have over 30 stitches put in place but it was all worth it in the end. Chad and I have truly been blessed with the best gift God could have ever given us: a healthy and beautiful baby girl.

I can't wait to see where life takes us in the days ahead of us and our family.