I started having what I thought were contractions on Thursday, December 5th. They weren't consistent, but I definitely knew what they were. By Sunday, December 8th I was really tired of having false alarms. I didn't have braxton hicks with Henry so this was all new to me. Sunday night I was timing contractions and as they got more intense and closer together Andrew and I decided we should head to the hospital. My dad came over to watch Henry and off we went, only to return home an hour later. I was disappointed to say the least. I continued to have contractions throughout Sunday night and into Monday morning, but I had given up on timing them because I didn't think they were real. Monday morning I decided to keep myself busy and not worry about these fake contractions. I cleaned the house, did laundry and played with Henry. Andrew went to work because there was no point in wasting vacation time if this wasn't real labor. At about 11:30 Andrew called to check on me and there was a lot of chaos in the house at that point and I told him I thought my water broke. I wasn't sure because it didn't happen with Henry and it wasn't a gush of liquid, just enough to make me wonder. I told Andrew I had to go, but called him back a few minutes later and told him everything was fine and not to worry.
My mom came over around 12:30 with lunch and I told her the events of the morning. I was still having contractions throughout the morning I just didn't time them because I was so tired of being wrong about going into labor. As my mom was watching the pain of each contraction, she decided that we needed to go to the hospital, this was about 1:30. I told her to give me until 2:30 before we decided to go because I needed to time my contractions for an hour. If you've ever had a baby you know the first thing they ask you when you walk in is: how far apart are your contractions? I wanted to have that answer. Mom said she was going to take Henry and run a quick errand and then come back and get me. In the time it took mom to load Henry into the car I had two contractions five minutes apart that were very real. I called my mom, who was still in the driveway and said, "don't leave without me, it's time to go."
I called Andrew and my dad and they both met us at the hospital. My dad took Henry back home and Andrew and I prepared for the arrival of our new baby. Andrew knew by looking at me that this was the real deal. Everything started to happen very quickly. By the time they checked me I was already dilated to 6 and they were working on getting me the epidural. I probably should have just sucked it up and gone natural because the epidural didn't have to time to take effect before our baby girl arrived. We arrived at the hospital at 2:30, Ella was born at 3:56 and I pushed for eight minutes. So, once my body decides it's in labor, things start happening fast.
The pictures start right after my epidural and then Ella is here.
Andrew and I had a hard time with girls' names. The "e" names really appealed to us. We had it narrowed down to Evelyn, Emma and Ella when we arrived at the hospital and finally chose Ella a while after she was born. We knew Ruth would be the middle name after my Grandma that passed away December of 2011.
Love that we do an hour of skin time right after the baby is born! Such a special time!
Our perfect little girl weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.
Daddy's little girl! He is already smitten.
Getting her footprints.
Daddy gets to give Ella her first bath.
Big Brother seeing Ella for the first time. He is completely in love with her and wants to help with everything! My favorite are the kisses and hugs he gives her!
Boompa (my dad) meeting Ella for the first time.
Getting to hold little sister for the first time.
Meeting Grammy (my mom) for the first time.
Meeting Aunt Blythe for the first time.
Andrew and I feel extremely blessed to have this amazing little family. Watching Henry grow has been the highlight of our lives and I'm sure our little girl will bring us just as much joy. Thank you to everyone for your support, both near and far.
Until we meet again...
