Emma's Birth Story and Picture Dump!

So I'm going to be transparent in this blog post, while also trying not to be TMI with the whole ordeal.  Here we go...

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

After telling my colleagues at Baylor to have a good weekend, and I'll see them on Monday (assuming that was still the plan), Tyler and I had a fairly busy Saturday.  We had a coupon for a massage, so we started our day off (after sleeping in) with a couples massage.  Now, they say that massages can sometimes help induce labor...but I wasn't really thinking about that, or thinking it would happen, or really wishing it to happen.  After our massages, we ran to the grocery store.  I wanted to get ahead with meals before Emma got here, so we picked up some things for me to make a few casseroles/frozen dinners that would be easy to reheat once she got here.  I had been having irregular contractions for a few days at this point, but nothing that had set off any alarms of labor.  However, at the grocery store, contractions started getting a bit more consistent and powerful.  Nothing to worry about though...Tyler was keeping track of each contraction with a handy little app on his phone and they still weren't at a rate that would send us to the hospital.

Saturday night, we were invited to Kayla and Aaron's for fajitas with our friends Jon and Emily.  Fajitas...spicy...spicy...equals...labor inducer.  Now, ever since the grocery store, the contractions are still coming closer together and are a bit stronger.  However, I am apparently determined not to have this baby yet.  Tyler has already announced to the group that she could come that night...and now everyone is watching me contract and wondering if it's time or not!  So even though the rule is 5:1:1 (5 minutes apart; 1 minute in length; for 1 hour consistently) and I'm contracting about every 5 1/2 minutes and lasting about 45-50 seconds long, I'm not letting Tyler take me to the hospital.  I keep telling him "I will tell you when to take me...I will know when it is time!"

Finally, after dinner, the contractions start calming down...see, I told you I wasn't going into labor!  We head home that night, and go to bed like nothing ever happened.  Time to rest up so I can cook all those freezer meals the next day!

Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014

7:15 AM - I wake up very suddenly with a very strong contraction.  I mean, I'm crouched on my forearms and knees in bed because it is such a powerful contraction.  This wakes Tyler up, who immediately starts his contraction timer.  That doozie was longer than a minute long, and when I got up from my hands and knees, I felt a pop...oh boy.  *Disclaimer...this is where it might start getting a bit too personal for some people, but here goes nothing*  I made it to the bathroom, and pretty much just sat on the toilet and leaked (only way to describe it) for the next 30 minutes.  At one point I asked Tyler to Google "breaking your water" because I just knew that had to be what happened.  It was just hard to believe because it was a week early, and usually women don't even naturally break their water, so I was thinking it wouldn't be something I experienced.  But, every time I would try to get up from the toilet, I would just leak some more.  I'm thinking...this has to be it...right...well Tyler is less convinced and is Google-ing "water breaking" just to humor me.  This whole time, I'm shouting to Tyler "CONTRACTION!" so he can continue to keep track of them, and Tyler finally says, "Erin, your contractions are almost every 3-4 minutes apart and lasting about 1-2 minutes each!"  He starts frantically getting all of our things together while I continue to sit on the toilet.  We are both finally convinced that this is happening about an hour after my water breaks...so...we load up the car and head to the hospital!

8:30 AM - We get to the hospital and Tyler helps me to the door in between contractions (oh but he has time to stop and take a selfie of us during one of my stronger contractions).

We get to check-in, and the nurse asks what makes me think I am in labor.  I'm sure they see a lot of false alarms, but this was legit.  I politely told her that my water broke and my contractions were pretty consistent.  She seemed a little skeptical about the fact that I told her my water broke, because she asked what made me think my water broke...I wanted to be like, "LISTEN LADY...I'M LEAKING HERE!" But instead I just told her that I felt a pop and there has been constant drainage.  She sent us to triage and they quickly confirmed that I was in labor, got me gowned and in the room for labor and delivery!

9:15 AM - My doctor is not on call that weekend (didn't know that's how it worked!) so I was told I would have another doctor deliver my baby.  Bummer...but I knew she would take care of us.  We meet her, and she checks my cervix to see how far along I am.  4 BABY!!!  That's right...by the time I got checked-in to the hospital, I was far enough along to get the epidural.  Enter anesthesiologist...I get the epidural, and Tyler and I both decide that it was the best decision ever!

10:00 AM - The families (my parents, Kelsey, Zac and Kathy, Ryan and Becca, and Kayla and Aaron) are all here now and hanging out just outside the labor and delivery room.  Everyone is invited into the room because I'm feeling good (well, actually, I'm not feeling anything...but that translates into feeling good).  We all hang out for a while and talk about...yeah I don't remember what we talked about, but we hung out.

12:00 PM - We're just waiting on little Emma to make her debut.  Meanwhile, I'm eating popsicles and freaking out every once in a while when someone touches or moves my leg and I can't feel it at all!  The family decides to go get something to eat for lunch, and it's just me and Tyler again.

1:00 PM - Doctor comes in to check me again, and I'm now an 8!  Getting close...we text the family and let them know they should head back soon!

1:30 PM - More time in the labor and delivery room with different members of the family.

2:30 PM - Nurse wants to check on my progress, so she sends the family to the waiting area.  She asks me if I have felt any urge to push yet.  I literally have not felt ANYTHING.  I tell her no, and she looks at me confused.  She tells me that Emma is literally RIGHT THERE and decides to try a few practice pushes.  Just me, Tyler, and her in the room and after the second practice push she tells me to stop, and says she needs to call in the doctor!

2:45 PM - Doctor gets to the room, nurses set everything up for welcoming Emma into the world, and the doctor tells me it's time!  I push probably 3-4 times and she is here!

2:59 PM - Emma Mechelle Ellis is born!

3:15 PM - Doctor has finished stitching me up, and Emma is clean and laying on my chest!  For the next 30-45 minutes it is just me and Tyler and Emma...our new little family.  It was so wonderful.  I was so overwhelmed with love for this little girl who hadn't even been here for an hour!  Tyler was smitten!  From the second she got here, he has been so fun to watch with her.  He just stares at her and can't stop kissing her sweet little face.

4:00 PM - We invite the family in to meet her and spend the next hour passing her around!

The entire experience was so incredible.  We were so fortunate to have the kind of labor and delivery we did...and we are even more blessed with our beautiful little girl.  And now...here are a ton of pictures of our first few weeks!