Ella's Birth Story

I woke up several times this morning to pee, but my 5 am pit-stop gave me a painful contraction so I decided to stay awake and time them.  Sure enough 10 minutes apart and very painful.

Adam woke up at 5:45 to get ready for work and my contractions were still the same, but extremely painful.  I asked him to pray with me before he left. He prayed, "Lord, if these contractions are real, please let them speed up and get closer together. If they are not real, please have them stop now so Krista can get some rest. Amen."

God answers prayer!

Adam went out to the kitchen to finish getting ready and my contractions shot straight to 5 minutes apart. I debated too long about grabbing Adam and before I knew it, he was already out the door and off to work.

My next contraction was 3 minutes apart!

I could not believe it! So, I timed several more.  All 3 minutes apart and killing my back.  This is when I started to freak out a little bit.  I called Adam and cried out to him saying, "I need you home! Even if these contractions stop. I need you here." I did not tell him how far apart they were, but I hoped that I conveyed the amount of pain I was in so he would rush home.

I decided I should probably call my doctor.

I dialed the number, but instead of being greeted by a person asking me what I would like to contact the doctor about, I was greeted by the voice mail system of the office. MEANING: I would not be able to get a hold of my doctor.

I was freaking out.

At this point Adam was still not home. Contractions are still 3 minutes apart and the baby was bearing into my back giving me about a 1 minute window to get things done between contractions.

I called Adam again. This time - no answer.

Now I am spazzing and pacing. Hoping that Adam pulls in at any moment.  That is when I realized I had not called Markita or even started to think about Kaylee and the fact that we need to get her somewhere with someone. The plan was that Markita would come get her, but because things were moving so fast and since I had not thought of this sooner, I was not sure how this part of the plan was going to play out. Thankfully, I did not have to contemplate it alone for long.

Adam was finally home!

He called his mom and she was sending his dad to pick Kaylee up.  While he was doing that, I called the hospital to let them know that I was coming, but could not get a hold of my doctor.  Adam then called our friends the Bakers to see if someone could come watch Kaylee until his dad arrived as we were running out of time. They were so great and Jonathan came right away.

As soon as he arrived, we headed to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, the triage unit checked me and I was already at 8 cm so they admitted me and were able to get my doctor to let her know.  By the time I got to my room, I was at 9 cm.  The doctor finished breaking my water (it had a slow leak) and by the time she was dressed and ready, I was at 10 cm and ready to push.  I am not really sure how long I pushed for, but Adam and I both agreed that it was about 45 minutes or less. 

Little Elanor (Ella) Grace entered the world at 9:49am at 8 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches long, making labor and delivery 4 hours 49 minutes long.

And so my life begins as a mother of two. :)

Induction

So, I called my doctor today to get an update as to what the plan will be for the weekend as I am a planner and want to know what is ahead. Plus, my parents are going crazy waiting. (So that is where I get my impatience from.) Anyways, originally my doctor had said she was not going to let me go past the weekend simply because of my size so I knew induction possibly was coming for the weekend.

Well, after my call - it is official. Induction is scheduled for Friday morning. It is so weird knowing that if Ella does not come between this moment and Friday morning that she for sure will be here Friday.


I am really nervous. Please pray for us if you think of us.

Braxton Hicks Attack Again

Contractions started around 9pm, but they were irregular until about 9:30. I started timing them at about 9:45. They were once again 10 minutes apart.

I went to take a shower to see if they would stop. They didn't.

By 10:45, they had been consistent every 10 minutes and were getting harder.

I called the on-call doctor because my personal doctor told me to call if they were 10 minutes apart. (She thinks my labor will move quickly.) The on-call doctor told me to try to get some sleep and call back when they are 5 minutes apart.

I finally fell asleep close to midnight. Contractions kept coming and waking me up because of how strong they were, but I was able to get a little sleep in between.  I kept waking up every hour after that. I would try to time them and fall asleep doing so.  Then, I would dream that I was timing them. That was worse because those were much closer together than my real contractions.

Anyways, around 1, contractions were 8 minutes apart and I was wondering if I should get up and start getting final things ready to go, but my tiredness won out and I fell back to sleep.

At 3 I got up to go the bathroom and kept myself awake for a bit to continue timing them.  That is when I realized that they were not coming as strong and were not as consistent as they had been. By 3:30, I knew for sure. They had stopped.

I still woke up to pee of course at around 4:30. I finally slept great from about 6:30 when Adam left for work until about 8:30 when Kaylee woke up.

It was a long night with the only outcome being that Adam still went to work today.

(I write all this down so that I can remember and someday share it with Ella.)

Refocus

Tonight at church we had a Refocus night. A chance to praise God with other believers and bow before His throne in adoration. It really was very refreshing and just what I needed.

On our way home I thought of this song. I want to share it with you.

I challenge you - set your mind on Him as you read the words or listen to the song.

The lyrics are below, but if you would like to hear it here is the link.

Revelation Song
Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heaven's mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
Yeah...

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Due Date - Maybe TMI for Some

Well, today is officially my due date and at this moment this baby is showing no signs of knowing that today is the day.

It is fine. I have made my peace with this child being a late baby.

I think if Kaylee would have been late, I would not have had this expectation that this baby would be early.  It doesn't help any that I have been measuring several weeks large with this baby since about 30 weeks.  The 2 previous appointments I have been 2-3cm dilated and 90% effaced, meaning my body is making progress toward labor. At my appointment yesterday I was deemed a "tight 3" and still 90%.  At every appointment the doctor is surprised and says, "I really don't think you will make it to your next appointment."

We will see, I suppose.

Joyful Moment of the Day: The sun is out and it is sooooo nice outside!!!

Dinner With Kaylee

Tonight Adam, Kaylee, and I all sat down for some good ole' fashion grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Kaylee ate 1/4 of her sandwich and pushed her plate away as if she were done. Then, she did sign language telling me she was indeed, all done.

All of a sudden she gets this really serious focused face on that every parent or babysitter knows. It is the "poop" face. Adam looks over at her and asks her what she is doing, laughing because of how serious she looked.

That's when it started. Kaylee moves her eyes from Adam, to me, then back to Adam and just starts laughing hysterically.  She keeps laughing which makes Adam catch the giggle bug as well.  The next thing I know she has Adam laughing so hard that he is crying.  I think she is cute and all so I offer up a small laugh, but I am still just not sure what is so funny that Adam should be bawling his eyes out.  It does not end there.

Kaylee then stops laughing and looks over at me.  She raises her eyebrows and opens her eyes and mouth really wide and then bursts out laughing all over again. Ok. Now I am laughing hard. Her face was hilarious, but I think the fact that she stopped laughing and got serious while making the face is what made it so funny. Either way, by the end of it I am pretty sure that the laughing and crying lasted about 20 minutes straight, maybe longer.

It was a fun dinner with Kaylee! (I wish I could have caught it on candid camera - I would have tried to video, but Kaylee would have stopped if I would have gotten the camera out.) (Oh and Adam lucked out - she never had that "dirty" diaper.)

10 Minutes Apart

So, my daughter is not even born yet and she is already teasing me.

Yesterday during my final board game of the evening I started having contractions. (around 4:15pm)

I did not say anything because I was too focused on the game at hand. After my bathroom visit, however, I was noticing that they were pretty close together.

When the game was finished, I went to get Kaylee from her Mamaw and Poppy's where she had spent the weekend and I timed the contractions the whole way there. 10 minutes apart.

By the time I got there, I was not even sure if I should pick Kaylee up because of how consistent they were.

I decided to take Kaylee home simply because she needed some time with her Mommy and Daddy before Ella came into the world.

I timed the contractions the whole way home. Sometimes 8 minutes apart.

I have to admit I was getting pretty excited. I got home and started unpacking Kaylee's dirty laundry and repacking things that I thought she would need just in case. Then, I got the living areas picked up a little and showered. Still timing contractions.

Finally, I sat down to watch a movie and fold laundry. I stopped focusing on contractions and started focusing on the movie. Finally, Adam asked me if I was still timing them and I realized I had not had one in a while.

3 hours. 10 minutes apart. Nothing to show for it.

This kid is such a tease.

First Ever Nesting Experience

I know. I know. I am on a posting spree.

I finally had my first ever "nesting" experience.  Markita, my fabulous Mother-in-Law, came over yesterday to clean for me. Knowing that she was coming motivated me to try to get some stuff done that I have been putting off because I usually need to do the things that Markita was going to do for me. With the time and opportunity, I decided to be supermom and do it all.

I cleaned the stove, oven, coffeemaker, and microwave.
I painted Kaylee's letters for her room orange and her shadow boxes two different shades of pink.
I washed 3 loads of laundry. Folded one load and put it away. (Sadly the others are still downstairs.)
I went to Sams to get much needed toilet paper and paper towels and a few other items.
I went to Wal-Mart to get some stuff I forgot to have Adam get when he lovingly went to the store for me, plus the ice cream that I desperately needed.
I changed the sheets on our bed and cleaned our room.
I emptied the dishwasher and re-loaded it.
I finished my Bible study homework.
I made dinner.
I felt accomplished and tired, but thankfully did not induce labor nor have a baby.

Markita cleaned my floors and bathrooms, which takes hours to complete (even longer when you are pregnant). I cannot thank her enough!!!  My house felt like it had a scrub down.

It was such a good day. My body hurts today from all I did, but I consider it well worth it to know that when Ella comes my life is going to be extremely busy and that I will not have time to do most of those things.

As far as an Ella update goes - I am hoping she stays in there until Sunday evening. We have our local boardgaming convention this weekend and as geeky as this sounds, I am really looking forward to it. I am playing in the Tichu tournament on Friday evening with my buddy Katherine. We have a huge raffle on Saturday and I hope to win a game. Plus, I get to play games with my hubby. I don't get to do that much anymore since we tag team at our game days to take care of Kaylee.  So, yes, as weird as it sounds - please Ella wait until Sunday evening to get the ball rolling.

Joyful Moment of the Day: Beat Adam at Thurn and Taxis tonight. I usually lose at this game and the best part was that he kept telling Kaylee to come sit with him and see how he wins. Not this time...