Happy 5th Birthday my sweet Elli!

The kids' birthday celebrationS (yes capital letter on the s because we have had MANY different celebrations for the kids this year) to come in another post.

As I like to do... the "birth" story of my sweet Elli. I was telling my mom the other day that I think the reason I like to tell the kids' birth stories every year is because it allows me to relive the MOST miraculous moment ever to experience. Giving birth to a child and hearing that first cry is just surreal.

May 25th, 2005 (6 days before my due date): I woke up at 4:00am to some uncomfortable pains. She was my first so I had no idea what I was supposed to be feeling and what labor really meant. The pains weren't terrible at all and I could still do everything I normally I would, but they weren't normal either. I then realized... these were contractions. I called my husband at work (once again having no idea what this all meant, how fast it would go, etc.). He came home a few hours later. We tried to time them but that seemed impossible. We walked and walked and walked and we walked to get his hair cut. Then about 4:00pm (12 hours later) I decided to call my doctor. I thought I should call before their office closed to make sure I shouldn't head to the hospital. I talked to the nurse and she informed me that I was in labor and I needed to go to the hospital. So we threw our bag in the car and headed on over. I got all checked in by about 6:30pm. They hooked me up to the monitors and I was surprised to learn that my contractions we 2 minutes apart. BUT I was only dilated to 2. So we walked and walked and walked around the hospital. By this point my contractions were stronger and I needed to stop and breath through them. 11:30pm the nurse checked me, still at 2cm. She called the doctor and he said, nothing is going to happen tonight, give her a sleeping pill so she can rest and he'd be in in the morning to break my water. Side note: My nurse at that time was HORRIBLE... she was SO mean, and short and just mean... she should not be a L&D nurse.

May 26th, 2005:

12:30am - The nurse gave me a sleeping pill. 3:30am - I never really slept good but I remember this moment in particular... a women in the room behind me screaming bloody murder (it seriously sounded as if someone was cutting off her arm), she was giving birth, I was mortified and decided at that point I didn't want to do this anymore.

7:30am - My doctor came in and broke my water. The sleeping pills stopped my contractions so pitocin was started right after he broke my water. Ummm, ouch!!! I know I've said it before (in my sons birth story), pitocin is HORRIBLE!! I went from no contractions to LONG, HARD with a tiny break contractions. I was still at 2. My doctor at that time wanted me to be a 3 before I could have an epidural.

10:30am - 3 hours into pitocin contractions. Still at 2. I thought I was going to die. I sound like a wimp but unless you've been through pitocin for that length of time... no judging!! I requested some pain meds. The nurse gave me stadol... that drug is NOT for me. I felt drunk and it knocked me out in between contractions and then I was wide awake when the next came. The problem was I only had a 30 second break in between and my contractions were 1 1/2 minutes long!

12:30pm - 5 hours into pitocin contractions. Stadol wore off about an hour earlier - thank God!! The nurse checked me and I was at 2.5cm. The doctor agreed to let me get an epidural - FINALLY!!

2:30pm - 7 hours in to pitocin contractions - 33 1/2 hours since I started this whole process :). The epidural FINALLY started doing it's job. It took a while to get the anesthesiologist in my room and then it didn't take the first time and they had to call him back. I was a happy camper and EXHAUSTED!! I was so out of it. My nurse dimmed the lights and told me to rest. She told me it would take about an hour a centimeter and to tell our families to expect a baby around 11ish.

2:45pm - Nick called my mom and delivered the news. She said she'd wait until my dad got off work and then they'd come up. He called his mom as well. I don't remember any of this because I was so out of it.

3:15pm - My nurse checked me and I was dilated to 10!!! YES, in 45 minutes!! So much for the 1 cm per hour. (Same thing happened with my 2nd - but I went from 2-10 in 20 minutes with him!). She couldn't believe it!! She wanted me to rest since I had JUST had the opportunity to do so. The nurse whispered to Nick, that he needed to call all the family back and inform them we'd have a baby MUCH sooner than 11 - and that I was already dilated to 10! Nick went outside to call so that I could rest.

This next part was one of my favorites... I remember laying there and was in and out of it. The lights were dimmed and I opened them to see my nurse quietly setting everything up for the delivery. It was just a surreal moment for me. A few minutes later Nick got back to the room and my nurse came over and got right down and softly said, you are already dilated to 10 and the doctor is on his way. This baby will be here very soon.

Little did I know that meanwhile, Elli's heart rate kept dropping and wouldn't come back up (same situation as Briggs). They hooked the fetal monitor to her head.

Everything from there was a whirlwind. I went from this state of not having any idea of what was going on to wide awake!!

3:45pm - The doctor came rushing in after 3 urgent phones calls from the nurse.

4:11pm - 36 hours later - Elli Marie was born. 6lbs. 11ozs. 19 1/2 inches long.

I thought FOR SURE I was having a boy so I was SOOOO shocked and EXCITED when she was a girl!!!

Elli, it's been 5 years since that amazing moment. You are an AMAZING little girl! You're sweet, caring, mature. You're an amazing big sister!! I cherish every moment with you! Happy Birthday!!!