Welcome Ellery! Birth Story Part One

I know I am a bit late on getting this posted but it is crazy around here and finding time to blog has been nearly impossible. The adventure of getting our little lady in our arms was nearly a 180 from what we had expected and it has taken some time to process. So without anymore waiting here is the story of how we got our little Ellery Charlotte

Friday the 13th

The day started like any other typical Friday, we were up early, dressed and fed the tot, and it was off to daycare before I returned home to start my own work day. On my way to the daycare, I noticed a few mild but irregular contractions. Since I was only 38 weeks along and they were fairly irregular I didn’t pay them too much mind.

My previous labor took two full days so I was prepared for another long labor and if this was it and I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. Little did I know as I watched my little man run into his classroom that this would be his last day at daycare. (I wish I had been more aware in that moment, more aware of that last drop off so I could forever cherish his love for those other kids and remember what his last day there was like, but life doesn’t always work as you want).

Things continued to progress:

As the morning progressed my contractions continued to grow more intense but they weren’t settling into much of a pattern. I was having contractions sometimes every 8 minutes, other times it was 15-20 minutes. I decided to continue with the work day but to also pack my hospital bag and pick up the house some as I was able between work duties.  All the activity increased the intensity and frequency of my contractions to every 5 minutes and I noticed (TMI) I had started to lose more and more of my mucus plug.

Since Jacob was scheduled to work the evening at the hospital I called the doctor around noon and let them know and the kind nurse congratulated me saying “honey, you’re having a baby this weekend!”. That sentiment was my first realization that I was going to be meeting my little girl soon and I was over the moon excited.

The nurse advised I get prepared to leave for the hospital when my contractions were both at least one minute in length and occurring every 3-4 minutes. At this time my contractions were lasting an average of 30 seconds and occurring every 5 minutes so I knew we had some time. I called Jacob to let him know that he should call into work and let them know he wouldn’t be in that evening. 

Something didn’t seem right…

I continued through the work day with minimal changes in contractions but around 3 o’clock I was sitting at my computer and noticed usually very active Ellery wasn’t moving when I poked her booty and I tried to recall the last time I had felt her move.

The last I could recall for certain was around 11 that morning. I had been busy with work and getting everything ready so I wasn’t sure it had been that long but I became a bit concerned so I called the doctor’s office.

They advised I eat a peanut butter sandwich, drink something sweet, and lay on my left side for a while. So I grabbed my goodies and headed to the couch. I figured she was just sleeping since I had been up and moving most of the day. After not feeling any movement for 15 minutes I decided to call the doctor’s office again.

They advised me that decreased movement during parts of the day can happen but that I should probably head it to the hospital to get checked. I called Jacob to let him know that I was concerned about Ellery’s lack of movement and that he should pick up Asher from daycare and head home as soon as work was over.

During this time I couldn’t get a hold on how I was feeling…on one hand I was really, really worried that something wasn’t right but on the other I didn’t want to be overly dramatic and go to the hospital unnecessarily so I tried to “will away” any negative possibilities by telling myself she was just sleeping and that everything would be fine. But I just couldn’t shake that bad feeling.

We had wanted to wait until my mom had arrived to head in so she could keep Asher because I was concerned but still hopeful we would be back home that evening to continue laboring. While we waited on her I showered and tried laying down again to coax little lady to move. Despite my attempt at a positive attitude I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong so I decided not to wait any longer and we loaded up Asher and ourselves and headed to the hospital. 

Read the rest of the birth story: part two and three