We were scheduled for an induction at 6am on June 20. The doctor told us that we were great candidates for the induction, and after how uncomfortable I was it almost seemed irrelevant how the baby came out, just that she did.
June 19 was Father's day so we celebrated Brian and my dad. I actually woke up on June 19 pretty early and went and helped my dad mow his lawn (much to this dislike of all involved but I figured the worst that could happen was that I went into labor from sitting on the rider mower plus it was a surprisingly cool morning and I was literally only sitting on the rider mower). I came home, we had a wonderful breakfast and spent some time relaxing as a family. We had my family over for an early steak dinner and finalized all preparations for the next day. The photographer was set, Caidyn's rides to school and to the hospital were set, bags packed. There was one project left - a banner welcoming Eleanor Rose. I took the ambien the doctor gave me at 9:30 and began what was supposed to be a 10 minute craft before bed.
An hour and half and 2 banners later I was annoyed I couldn't sleep through these annoying contractions. Brian and I watched the end of the NBA finals as the contractions got more and more intense. We called the hospital and they told us the usual - come in for a check. I felt like we had done that too many times I would just will these contractions away and fall asleep. As that didn't work and it was after midnight at this point I decided to take a shower and blow dry my hair, since I had planned to do that before we went for our induction. I took the longest shower I could - I think we ran out of hot water - and very painfully blow dried my hair. I had to stop at least 4 times because the pain from the contractions was too bad but I still didn't believe I was in labor. I got back into bed and continued to be unable to sleep. I went to the bathroom so as not to disturb Brian and just kind of stood there walking around and bending over when necessary. Eventually it was about 4am and I had been shaking from the pain for a little bit. I flung open the bathroom door with the intention of slowly and gently waking Brian up only to see him on his cell phone (I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was being). I proclaimed, "its time to go! Are you ready?" and he quickly got dressed while I put my contacts in. I was in so much pain at that point that we didn't even wake my mom who was downstairs we just left and I texted her.
I'll never forget that drive and how different it was than the other times we had driven to the hospital in "labor". I am annoying when I am not driving and usually very picky about which route I think it fastest. Its a bad habit, but whatever, I have much better traffic "luck" (I think its strategy) than Brian and I had pinpointed the perfect route. But that early morning I genuinely did not care. I think I might even have told him to run a red light or two - my biggest concern was getting to that hospital.
I did comment that we should park in a shady spot since our car would be staying there for a while. He had tried to drop me off at the front but I didn't want to walk in by myself. While he grabbed a bag from the car I started the walk to the front of the hospital. It was maybe 50ft. My contractions were so close together at that point that I had to stop twice before we were inside because of the pain.
We checked in at the front desk and were quickly escorted back by Ellie, a nurse we had during our preterm stay. We bypassed triage and went straight to a room! After stopping for a contraction in the hallway twice... She double checked I wanted an epidural and rushed the blood tests and IV, got me right in my gown, and settled enough to check me. I could hardly believe when she said I was dilated at 7 1/2cm! I could hardly believe it! With Caidyn I attempted a natural delivery and stalled for hours at 6cm and wanted so badly to make it to that third stage of labor at 7cm. If I hadn't been waiting a month for it I might have attempted a non-medicated delivery again, but instead I looked forward to that epidural.
We had left the house around 4am, and had the epidural in shortly after 4:30. Time for a few commemorative photos and an adorable video of Brian pacing dealing with the emotions and excitement of the situation!
I was definitely looking rough after no sleep with an ambien in me - but we were definitely quite excited to meet our little girl!
Around 5:30 I was checked to be 10cm dilated and ready to go! The nurse called the doctor and asked her to please be on her way and we began. I started pushing and was actually told to stop while we waited for the doctor to get into the room since she was so close. That was a moment I was very glad to have the epidural. The doctor arrived and soon after Ellie did, too! It was so peaceful and so focused on Ellie. I can't even recall if there was just the one nurse with the doctor or possibly two people? Ellie arrived, was placed on my chest for some skin to skin time, and we just instantly began bonding with our little girl. Brian was able to cut her umbilical cord like he did for Caidyn and it was so relaxing. It was 6:01am, two minutes after our induction appointment was scheduled for. She chose her own birthday and I love knowing that. She was 7lb 2oz and 20" long. She had dark hair, but not as dark as her sister and not as much of it. Her little face had higher cheeks like her mama and she had these big beautiful eyes. She was beautiful and perfect.
About an hour and half after she arrived they cleaned her up and Brian got to finally hold her. He is such a wonderful father and you can truly see the love he has for his little girls. We began to slowly share the news with immediate family first, then as the day went on close friends. Our messages were always the same though - that we would share the news with the world and welcome additional visitors after big sister got to meet her. We did of course invite our parents and siblings to come meet sweet Ellie Rose. Our mother's came first - arriving within minutes of each other and both taking longer than we thought they would!
Anita and Ronni came by later that afternoon to help me get ready for pictures as I was quite sore and tired. I had dreamed of having photographs done to capture the moments when Caidyn was able to meet Eleanor and so happy the timing worked out perfectly. Niamh picked Caidyn up from school and brought her to us dressed in her special big sister outfit. I could not have been more excited for Caidyn's arrival and probably cried through the whole meeting.
Eleanor "got" Caidyn a Doc McStuffin's doctor kit as a big sister gift and she put it to use right away giving Ellie a check up. The love she has for her little sister was so obvious that day as all she wanted to do was play with her and hug her. The little smiles and squeezes make me tear up every time I look at these photos!
Before long our family began to arrive to sing Happy Birthday to our sweet girl with a pink cupcake and the same outfit her old sister wore on her birth day.
Welcome to the world, Eleanor Rose! Your birth day was one I will never forget and each day with you has been such a gift. Your father, sister, whole family, so many of our friends, and I all love you so very much!
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