Ella 0-4 months

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A LOT of pictures

I am returning to work Monday.  Bummer.  Being a stay at home mom is the best.  But I will miss teaching--I am not going back after this year.  I believe I am a better person, and will be a better mom, because of the experiences I've had and things I've learned. Teaching 6th grade is a perfect fit for me.  I love those kids and I'm glad I get to end the year with them.  I told them I'd bring lots of pictures of Ella to show them, so, if you want, you can look at them too. But I am warning you: there are A LOT. (One of my students spelled a lot 'allought' in a paper.  I later asked him how to spell a lot, and he answered, "it depends what kind you are talking about.')

Miss Ella

2/12/13 (Mardi Gras baby!)

Ella Mae Smith

February  12, 2013

            I was planning on teaching up to the time I had the baby.  I was feeling good (tired, but good) and didn’t want to need to come back before Spring Break.  I was bleeding a little on Monday, and called the doctor to see what I should do.  He said if it gets worse, or if there is cramping, go straight to the hospital.  I was a little shocked he said go to the hospital, not come in to the doctor.  I texted Andrew and told him what the doctor said, but let him know it wasn’t urgent.  I continued to teach the rest of the day, mostly sitting down, and didn’t ever feel any contractions.  My stomach was tightening, but not consistently, and not very frequently. 

            I went home after school and we decided to go eat right away.  We went to Café Rio. After that, we went to the mall to swiftly walk to see if that’d start anything.  My stomach was feeling tight, but I was definitely not feeling any pain. We walked for about 45 minutes and I felt exhausted.  We went home and watched How I Met Your Mother and relaxed.  I didn’t wash my hair that day, so at about 9:30 I decided to shower and wash my hair just in case. 

            I texted my mom at 10:15 and told her I thought I was feeling some contractions, but they weren’t close together or very painful, so something was happening, but I didn’t feel like it was bad enough to go to the hospital.  Andrew asked a few times if we should go just to check, but I wasn’t really feeling painful cramping, so we stayed home.  Andrew went to sleep at 10:30 while I dried my hair.  I decided I’d straighten it in the morning so I could go to bed too. As I was drying my hair, I started feeling what I thought might be contractions.  They were about 5-6 minutes apart. I thought that was crazy since I hadn’t felt any all day, and suddenly they were so close together. I realized it’d be a good idea to straighten my hair and put some makeup on now, since I’d possibly not make it through the night.  I was feeling a little nervous, but I was mostly confused. How could I go from feeling nothing, to having contractions 5 minutes apart?!   

            I finished doing my hair at 11:30.  By then, the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. (WHAT??!)  I decided to wait until 12:00, and if they were the same or worse by then, we would go to the hospital.  I tried to sleep for those 30 minutes, but every time I would fall asleep, another contraction would hit and I would wake up.  At 12:00 a.m.  I went to the bathroom then woke Andrew up and told him it was time to go to the hospital.  He later told me that he didn’t really believe me because I was so calm; because of this, he was super unprepared and put on a sweatshirt and grabbed the iPad.  He thought we’d be coming home after a check up.  (I love that I was so calm!  I thought I’d become a little hysterical, but I handled myself very well.) Another clue for me that they were contractions was that I could not stop shivering.  I wasn’t cold at all, but my body was uncontrollably shaking. 

            We got to the hospital around 12:20.  My contractions were getting harder; I felt them in my legs too.  We had to check in with security before going to labor and delivery.  I was so awkward.  I said, “I think I’m having my baby.” The security guard told us where to go.  We went up the elevator and got checked in.  I was really hoping this was the real deal because it was getting very painful.  If we got sent home, I didn’t think I could make it through the night!  The nurse checked me and I was already dilated to a 6!  She asked if I wanted to go natural since I was so far and it would go faster if I did.  No thank you!  Get me the epidural! 

            Andrew was a little in shock since we would be staying. And by this time, it was 1 in the morning.  The doctor came in to give me the epidural.  He did a fantastic job! I hardly felt him put the needle in.  After about 20 minutes it still hadn’t kicked in completely so he gave me a slightly higher dose.  Before the epidural worked, I was having really hard contractions every 2 ish minutes.  Right when one would end, it seemed another one would start.  I was breathing the best I could, but it HURT!!  When he gave me the first dose of epidural fluid, it felt so good because it was really cold!  I was so hot.  Everyone else said the room was cold, but I felt like I was sitting in a sauna.  Andrew kept giving me ice chips, but I was just melting. I couldn’t believe how hot I was, and those contractions!  It was AMAZING when the epidural was working completely.  I could feel a tiny pinch on my right side during a contraction, but it just felt like an extremely mild side ache.  No big deal at that point! 

       At about 2:00, I heard a pop and my water broke.  I let out a short yelp—it was very surprising—so my mom and Andrew tensed up.  I thought they heard the pop too, but apparently, they thought something was wrong.  I called the nurse and told her I thought my water broke.  She checked, and sure enough it had.  I was also dilated completely at that point.  The doctor wanted me to just rest and wait for an hour to see if the baby would come down a little so I didn’t have to push for so long.  Andrew’s parents go there at about 2:30, so we all just chatted and relaxed while we waited. 

            At 3:10, the doctor and nurse came in and told me it was time to start pushing. My heart stared pounding.  I hadn’t felt nervous like this all night until the nurse said that to me.  I didn’t know how to push.  I didn’t really think about the pushing until this point, and it was really scary.  Andrew was by my side, he could tell that I was scared.  He was so encouraging the whole time.  The nurse told Andrew to help me push.  Ha, he wasn’t sure what she meant by that until she said, you count for her.  Then he was on board.  I had no idea that pushing would be so exhausting!  And the doctor said to not breath while I pushed.  It was one of the most physically exhausting things I have ever done.  After the three pushes, my body would just collapse onto the bed. 

            Even though I couldn’t feel anything (blessed epidural!) I could feel the pressure of sweet Ella coming.  It was so amazing when the doctor/nurse would say something like, “oh, we see her head,” or “that was a great push, she’s almost here.” I just kept thinking of our baby and that kept me going.  Because of the epidural, the contractions weren’t as close together, so I had some time to rest in between the pushes.  After a while, the doctor said that the space was really tight.  He could give me an episiotomy and she’d come right out, or I could keep pushing and tear anyways. So I opted for the episiotomy and sure enough, the next push out came her head.  One more session of pushing and my sweet baby Ella Mae made her grand entrance at 3:51 am.   It was so wonderful to hear her little screams.  Her head was slightly coned, but it wasn’t a very traumatic delivery for her. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long.  One of the first things that we noticed were her long fingers.  When they placed that little girl on me, I was just so happy to have her here.  I looked up at Andrew and had an amazing moment of pure love for him. He was so supportive and encouraging the whole time.  Even though he had little sleep, he was 100% there and in the moment with me.

          She came to our room at 8:00 am the next morning after being bathed.  Andrew watched them give her a bath and then picked out a purple bow for our little girl.   It was so wonderful when they finally brought her in and I really got to hold my precious girl.  Every day since then I feel more love for her.  She is so sweet and beautiful.  It was hard to put her to bed the first night home.  I didn’t want her to get cold, or be hungry.  I cried putting her to sleep the first few nights she was here.  I just wanted to hold her and keep her safe.  It’s a little easier now since she breaths more steadily and I know she will wake me up when she is hungry (and I am TIRED!! Getting sleep in 2-3 hour blocks makes it easier to sleep when she sleeps).  She is such a good baby and we love her so much.  

Any day...

Well, this is my 100th post.  That's pretty awesome.  Next time I write, you will probably get more pictures than words.  Maybe I'll share the birth story.  So many people post their birth (labor?) stories these day.  How do they even remember?!  And know by the minute what happens?  I feel like I will just be hysterical and overwhelmed by emotion to look at the clock.  But I guess we'll see.

I feel like I have had a relatively easy pregnancy (major blessing) because I've been able to teach the whole time.  Writing lesson plans to be gone for 6 weeks is probably one of the worst things I've had to do as a teacher.  Hopefully all goes well.  But what has been hard is walking after sitting down for too long.  It feels like my pelvic bone is separating. Oh...wait... that IS what is happening.  Our bodies are so amazing that they can recover after being pregnant and giving birth.

The kids in my class are dying because I won't tell them what we're naming our baby.  My friend I teach with thinks I could use it as a behavior incentive.  Not a bad idea.  I have an excellent class this year, but it always helps to have a little extra motivation.  This was funny. I was introducing coordinate planes to my class and they wrote their ideas on the board. One was right, and one was wrong.  I wanted them to figure out which was which using logic from other things we've talked about in class.  One kid came to the board and said, "They are both right, but this one (pointing to the left) is more likely."  More likely?  I'm not sure what that would mean either.  Boy do I love my job.  Always entertaining.

I would post a picture of my 38 week belly, but I do not have one.   Not because I am embarrassed  but because I am too lazy to take one.  So here is a little shot of her nursery.  It has been really fun getting the nursery ready.  We found an adorable pink, black and white crib set that we love.  She is going to be one spoiled little girl.  And we cannot wait!