Miss Ellen was due on October 17
th, but we were SURE that she would come well before that date. I actually was afraid that she would come too early because she felt like I was carrying her so low, so we were all surprised when the 17
th came and went with no sign of Ellen. At 5:30 am on the 18
th I woke up to mild contractions. They started in the middle of my lower back and worked their way around my belly. They were only about 15 seconds and were about 10 min apart. I looked at the clock for about an hour. Lucas woke up at 6:30 that day and that's when I told Jeff that I thought something was going on. I tried not to pay too much attention to the contractions or to get excited because I knew it could stop and that getting excited may even cause it to stop.
These contractions went on for most of the day. At about 10am Jeff, Lucas, Tyson and I went on a long walk. The weather was cool and crisp and I was excited about how labor was going so far. My water hadn't broken early on, like it did with Lucas, so the contractions were very
manageable. Some of them were a tiny bit uncomfortable, but nowhere near painful. After our walk we had a snack (soup broth) and then we decided to get out of the house. We ran some errands and then went to the playground. It was cold and I was starting to have to concentrate on the contractions, which were usually about 7-8 minutes apart and 45 seconds in length, but would sometimes lag for about 12 minutes. It was close to
Lucas's nap time, so my hope was that he could take his usual 3 hour nap and then we could head to the hospital. We had a light lunch at home and then I nursed Lucas to sleep, like we always do, around 2pm.
I called the midwife for the first time around 2:30pm. She said that I should wait until the contractions were about 5 min apart to come to the hospital. She said to just be careful because if I waited until they were only 3 min apart then I might not make it to the hospital. After that call Sandy and I went for another walk around the block and dropped off a key for the neighbor to watch Tyson for us.
At 5pm I was at the point where I had to lean on the
counter top, take a deep breath in and then let out a breath that you could hear. Kind of like if you were in yoga class and they told you to take a deep breath and then sigh as you let it out. We loaded the car, woke up Lucas and headed to Mike and Jill's house. Mike and Jill live only a few minutes from the hospital and we were planning on leaving Lucas there that night so that Sandy could be there to see Ellen when she was born. At that point the contractions were still about 8 minutes apart.
I called the midwife again when we got to Mike and Jill's house. She said to use my best judgement because once I got to the hospital I'd have to stay there. My contractions were to the point to where it felt best to get on my hands and knees during the contraction, which alarmed Jeff and Sandy, so we decided to go the hospital.
We got to the hospital around 6:30pm. I had to lie in the bed so they could monitor the baby for 15 minutes. It was nice to rest, but I noticed that my contractions slowed down when I was in bed. I still felt great, so wanted to walk halls. They checked my cervix and I was only
dilated to 4cm, which disappointed me since I had already been at 2cm a few days before. The nurses said it was good that I was progressing and that 2
nd labors go much quicker. It took them a while to ask me questions, take blood, etc, so it was probably about 7:30 before we were able to start walking. The labor was going awesome at that point. I remember telling Jeff and Sandy that the time in between contractions was very peaceful. It was like doing a really hard yoga pose and then getting to rest. Immediately after each contraction I felt so relaxed that I could have fallen asleep. The contractions were a few minutes apart, so after each one I was able to walk and chat with Jeff and Sandy. There was a hand rail along the wall that was the perfect height for me to lean up against when the contractions got harder. I would rest my forehead on the wall and Jeff would push really hard on my lower back. This really helped to take the pressure off of my back.
We took a snack break around 8pm (crackers, nuts, water) and I called my sister to tell her what was going on. I told her that it was getting harder to talk during the contractions, so I was going to turn my phone off and we'd call her when the baby was born. I kind of lose track of time after this, but I think that we walked the halls for another hour. I had moved from leaning on the hand rail to kneeling on the birth ball, just like I did during my first labor. There was intense pressure on my back during the contractions, so it felt great to put the ball on the floor and kneel on it as Jeff pushed against my lower back. I remember that during this time I was walking slowly and watching one foot be placed in front of the other. I was entering the stage of deep concentration and no chatting. I was also starting to get a little confused. Up until this point I was very sure of what I wanted to be doing. At that point I wasn't sure if I should keep walking or take a rest in the bed to conserve energy. I was getting tired from the hard work, so decided to head back into our room for a while. It was probably around 9pm.
We timed it well because the first contraction after we got into our room was so intense that the nurses and midwife came quickly into the room because they thought the baby was about to be born. They checked my cervix again and I had progressed to 6cm, which didn't seem like much at the time! I remember them asking me if I wanted to stay kneeling over the ball (I hadn't been able to move since that last contraction) or get into the bed. I told them that I didn't know and heard Jeff tell them that I was in the stage where I was confused (what a great coach to know all of this).
I am not sure of the sequence of events from 9pm to 10pm, but I think it was just more of the same. The medical team was in and out of the room and told me to tell them if I felt a lot of pressure down low. This was confusing to me because I felt pressure, but was that what they were talking about??? Anyway, around 10pm they convinced me to move to the bed and they changed the position of the bed so that I could kneel on it as I was doing on the ball. At 10:20 they checked my cervix again and I was at 9cm. Jessica said she wouldn't be surprised if I was nursing my baby by 10:45. I thought she was crazy since it took over 2 hours to push Lucas out.
The next 30 minutes were crazy intense and felt like one non-stop contraction. I was very vocal and remember worrying a little bit about disturbing the other patients. I could hear Jeff telling me that I was doing a good job, but I kept my eyes closed the entire time. I thought this delivery would happen like my first one where I'd have a break in between dilating and pushing, so I was surprised when she told me to try and push a little to see if it relieved some of the pressure. To my surprise we were suddenly in the final stage of labor.
The nurse convinced me to roll over onto my back and try to push that way. After a couple of pushes everyone in the room was cheering me on and telling me that we were close (kind of unfair that everyone could see my baby but me at this point). I connected with Jessica's voice when she told me to push for 5 seconds and then to take a breath. I pushed through two contractions and at 10:52 Jessica put Ellen on my chest. She was tiny, beautiful and perfect. The moment was surreal as Jeff and I took it all in. It was love at first sight...
The day in pictures...
Getting ready for a family walk during the early stage of labor (10 am)
Big Mama after checking into the hospital (7pm)
Miss Ellen Claire (11pm ish)
