August 12, 2011

Eli's comin' better hide your heart

WARNING: This post is extremely elaborative and mostly serves to remind me of the experience years down the road. Read at your own risk.

I am aware that Eli came without a whole lot of warning. That's not to say we didn't know he was on his way because I was having contractions all day Sunday, but by the end of the day it had tapered offsome and I wasn't sure if I had made any progress. So I went to bed Sunday night convinced I was in for another long day of labor judging by how labor went with Lela. I was awakened at midnight to consistent contractions and I timed them for an hour before I woke Nathan up. So we took our time and got ready to head to the hospital. I could tell the contractions were stronger but I just knew I had at least six hours before Eli made his appearance. Nathan packed up the car and then asked me one more time if I thought we could wait a little longer (we didn't want to spend twelve hours in labor and delivery like last time) and I told him we better go because I was determined to get an epidural this time and didn't want to wait too long.

So we got to the hospital around 2:00 am (after turning around to pick up my purse that I forgot) and got checked in by 2:30. I was surprised/relieved to hear that I was dilated 7 centimeters when I arrived but again I was sure I had a few hours left if not more. The contractions started getting stronger really quickly but I was comforted by the thought that my epidural was on its way because again I was convinced I was in for a long haul. Suddenly the contractions were very intense and I began to panic because I didn't think I could handle it very long. My water broke a few contractions later and I immediately had the urge to push. At this point the nurse asked me if I could sit up to get my epidural and I told her I didn't think so. (My actual response was more like a panicked "Well am I about to deliver!?!" She wasn't much help so I simply declined.) To make a long story short, Eli made his appearance at 3:42 am, just an hour and 42 minutes after we arrived! Good thing we didn't wait any longer!!




We are now officially a family of four :) Crazy.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Glad you made it to the hospital in time! Eli is beautiful! Can't wait to see you all....may have to fly in for the weekend soon! Love you, Mimi

Danielle said...

Love the pictures and the story! Hope to see you all soon.