Ellie Grace's Birth Story

I can't even count how many birth stories I read while I was pregnant. Now as I sit down to type this and watch my sweet baby sleeping next to me, I can't believe I'm actually writing my own! Well, my own daughter's :) I have so much to stay and no idea where to start but I want to remember everything that I can about this sacred experience so here we go....

The last couple weeks of my pregnancy were easily the longest weeks of my life. I knew that she could come at any time so I spent my days in anticipation and woke up discouraged each morning when I realized I was still pregnant and not in labor! I cried to my husband a lot and spent most of my time looking up ways to naturally induce labor. None of these worked for me which was frustrating and led to more tears. Good thing my husband is so amazing and reminded me that she would come when she was ready and that what really mattered was that she was healthy. I needed that reminder a lot :) Her due date came and went and I was finally starting to accept the fact that I was going to be induced. I had a dr. appointment Tuesday (5 days after I was due) and wasn't very surprised to find out that I was still only dilated to a 1. My dr. stripped my membranes but I had already had this done a couple weeks before and nothing had happened so I finally accepted the fact that I would be induced on Thursday, one week after my due date. Ben and I decided to go on a date Wednesday night because that would be our last night without baby girl. I made plans for everything I would get done Wednesday and was really excited about our date night. I finally felt peaceful about the situation and stopped trying to force myself into labor. 

That night after dinner we watched West Texas Investors Club (haha) and I started having some mild contractions. They were uncomfortable but I've had a lot of mild contractions the past couple weeks so I thought nothing of it. After the show we went to the post office and my contractions continued and started to get a little stronger. When we got to the post office we had to wait a minute to go in so I could get through a contraction. They still really weren't that bad though and I gave it little to no thought. In the car on the way home they kept coming so we decided to time them out of curiosity and they were about 7 minutes apart. By the time we got home they were getting painful rather than just uncomfortable. This was the first time we considered I might be going into labor. We tried to relax and watch a show and I tried not to get my hopes up (I was having this baby Thursday, remember?) but we also decided to download an app to track the contractions. They kept coming for a couple hours but slowed down and weren't very consistent. I walked around the house and we walked around the block (even though it was still about 100 degrees) to see if they would become more consistent. That didn't seem to do much so we went to bed and I kept the phone with the tracking app by my side. Once in bed, they started coming every 7 minutes again and were becoming more painful. After laying there tracking them for about an hour I couldn't take the pain any more. I got up and went to the couch where I thought I might be able to get in a more comfortable position and distract myself with the TV. No such luck. I couldn't find any position that brought me any relief so I decided to take a bath. The bath helped but our tub is pretty small and the water was barely covering my tummy so it was still a little tricky to find relief. While I was in the tub my contractions started coming less than 5 minutes apart. Could this actually be it?? I woke Ben and told him what was going on then headed to my parents bathroom to try out their bigger tub while Ben got our things together (ah! this was actually happening). Once I was in their tub (which helped a lot more to relieve the pressure of the contractions) they became even stronger and closer--about 2 minutes apart. I'd heard that you should try to labor at home for as long as you can so I was trying to wait to go to the hospital but with my contractions so close together it didn't take long for me to figure we should probably just get ourselves over to the hospital! I asked Ben for a blessing before we left and that brought so much peace and comfort (and tears!). Then we loaded up our car and headed to the Dixie Regional Medical Center! It was about 1 a.m. at this point and the roads were completely empty. It was really surreal driving to the hospital in the middle of the night (a moment we had talked about and anticipated for months!) and I was blessed to only have a couple contractions on our way there. I was worried they were letting up and I wasn't actually in labor but as soon as we parked they picked right back up! We headed into the hospital but before we went in we turned to look at the glowing temple across the street from us. Just below the temple we could see the Christus lit up and shining through the visitor's center window. At that moment I knew that everything was going to work out and I had nothing to worry about. I'm so grateful for the peace and comfort the Savior brings and for the many tender mercies he showed us throughout my labor and delivery!

Once in the hospital, we were taken to triage where I changed into a gown, got into a hospital bed and hooked up to contraction and heart rate monitors, and was asked a million questions that I did my best to answer through contractions. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 2 (progress, yay) and my contractions were basically back to back at this point, ouch. It's protocol to be monitored in triage for an hour to make sure that you're really progressing before they admit you so the nurse left us to watch That's So Raven and I continued to labor for another hour in triage. Luckily Ben was by my side the whole time (or in front of me putting counter pressure on my knees) and we survived the hour! I have never heard better news than when the nurse came back, checked me, told me I was progressing and could be admitted and then said the glorious words, "You're having a baby!" 

This was ACTUALLY it!! My prayers had been answered and girlfriend decided to make her appearance on her own rather than being induced. I had prayed that she would come on her own, even if it was the night before I was going to be induced, because call me crazy but that was just really something I wanted to experience. God answered and baby girl cooperated :)

Once I was in a labor and delivery room it was about 3 a.m. By 3:30 ish the anesthesiologist arrived and it was time for my epidural! WOOT WOOT! I was nervous about getting it, especially because I had started shaking uncontrollably after being admitted to my room, but it went perfectly (other than me squeezing the life out of Ben's poor hands, ha ;) and the pain of getting the epidural was less than the pain of a contraction... definitely worth it! However, shortly after receiving my epidural I began to feel really nauseous and my blood pressure dropped pretty low. My head became really foggy and I started throwing up. It was a scary few minutes but my amazing doctors quickly adjusted my drugs and got my blood pressure back up. After that I was really drowsy but completely content because I couldn't feel any of my contractions! The epidural definitely worked and I am so grateful that I got it. The next few hours were a bit of a blur. I was in and out of sleep between getting checked by the nurses and Ben was in and out of our room because he was really nauseous all morning. Poor hubby :(  Sometime amidst all of this (around 5 I think?) my Dr. came in and broke my water. That was the strangest feeling. After that things progressed pretty quickly! Every time I was checked I had dilated further and baby had moved further down the birth canal. Everything happened a lot faster than I'd expected!

My mom and Mandi showed up and brought Ben some soda that helped his nausea and we all hung out in the room for a little while until around 9:30 when I was checked again and was almost at a 10! My nurse told me the next time she came back we would probably start pushing! WHAT?! I honestly thought I would be in labor all day so I was a little shocked but SO excited. At this point my epidural had started to wear off and I was starting to feel contractions again. I remember waiting for my nurse to come back and wanting to cry because my bum hurt SO bad but I couldn't change positions because she had put me in a certain position to help my pelvis open up. When she came back she had me do a couple practice pushes and I was so anxious to meet my baby I forgot all about my pain. However, she did adjust my epidural before leaving (which didn't actually work but luckily Ben realized that the machine wasn't on and got them to fix it!). More nurses started coming in and prepping our room for delivery and at about 10:30 my nurse came back and had me start pushing. My mom was holding one leg, a nurse holding the other, and Ben was right by my side, next to my face, coaching me through the whole thing. After the first push everyone started commenting on all of the dark hair girlfriend had. I was shocked! I was expecting a bald baby, haha. I kept pushing and we were getting really close but my Dr. had not come in yet! She got there at the perfect timing and guided me through the rest of the pushing. They let me feel baby girl's head when it came out and that was the most surreal experience. At 11:04 I delivered a perfect, beautiful, healthy, BIG baby girl! Everyone was saying how big she was and I was trying to look down there but I couldn't see her! Finally, I saw her and I couldn't believe that was our little girl, OUR daughter who had spent 41 weeks growing inside of me! The Dr. layed her on my stomach while they cleaned her up and the moment her eyes met mine (she was bright eyed from the second she was born) I knew that she was my little girl. It was a connection and a moment I will always cherish and never forget. I knew her. And she was mine. And she was perfect. I can't describe the love that I felt in that sacred moment. My mom cut her chord, they did her APGAR (which was great), and measured/weighed her. 9 lbs 2 oz. and 20 inches long, she is definitely a big healthy girl :) I was in shock again because my dr. had estimated that she would be 7-8 lbs. So I was expecting a small bald baby and I got a big girl with a full head of dark beautiful hair :) And I wouldn't have had it any other way! While I got stitched up (I tore quite a bit since girlfriend was so big) they brought her back to me and layed her on my chest so we could do skin to skin. That was the most precious moment of my life. She was calm and cuddled right up to me and I couldn't believe I was actually in that moment. Ben and I just cried as we looked at our beautiful little girl. I was able to breasfteed her shortly after and girlfriend was a champion at that from the get go. It was another beautiful experience. Everything was just so perfect and I still feel like it was all a dream.

They moved us up to a recovery room a little later and I was in a lot of pain. Everything for the next couple of hours is kind of blurry because of the pain but thanks to wonderful nurses the pain finally got under control and we were able to enjoy the rest of our time at the hospital as a family of 3. Our recovery room had a view of the temple that was beautiful. I look back on our 24 hours in that room as a little piece of heaven! We got to keep girlfriend in the room with us the whole time until we decided to get some sleep that night and they took her to the nursery (but brought her back when I needed to feed her). We had awesome room service (chicken tenders and oreo shakes whenever we wanted) and wonderful nurses taking care of us and just got to really enjoy a day of becoming a family of three :) My favorite memories from being there are just laying in bed and holding my baby girl to my chest, skin to skin. The smell of her skin and the feel of her soft, beautiful hair was so familiar and so perfect. I also loved watching Ben become a daddy. He is so tender with our Ellie and I'm pretty sure I teared up every time I saw the way he looked at her. I wouldn't trade those memories for the world. 

 

 

The morning after she was born, as we filled out her birth certificate, we figured it was probably time to give her a name! We had come to the hospital with 4 names in mind: Ellie, Oakley, Brynley, and Adelyn. Our nurse had us write all of the names on our white board in our room and the nurses/drs all voted on their favorites :) When she was born we crossed off Brynley and Adelyn because they didn't fit and we called her Ellie for most of the first day. It stuck and we made it official with her birth certificate! Ellie Grace Martin. Our Ellie Grace. Our little girl. Our daughter. Oh, my heart!

Right after Ellie was born I told Ben I would do it all over again in a heartbeat and I meant it. Yes, labor and delivery were painful experiences but they honestly were not as unbearable as I was anticipating. In fact, I actually enjoyed a lot of it and I cherish the memories and experiences of Ellie's delivery and the time we spent with her in the hospital. I am so grateful for her and her sweet, calm spirit. She's been the most peaceful baby and I just can't believe how much love Ben and I have for her. I know that she came straight from heaven and that she is the greatest blessing we've ever received. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father was willing to share her with us. 

I know that families can be together forever and I'm so grateful that Ben and I get to be with our Ellie always. 

xoxoxoxo

Ellie's Mom