And then there were three...: SHE'S HERE!!

Elli Bernice Savage

Born January 13, 2014 at 2:52 pm

7 lb 10 oz, 20 inches long

I'm a little late in posting this but between the last week of taking care of my adorable little baby and trying to get caught back up on homework before all my exams hit, I am only just getting a chance to type it all up. At my last doctors appointment (on Friday, January 10th) we talked to him about the possibility of getting an induction if I went overdue. We figured out some plans and decided that if on the 15th, her due date, I had dilated to at least a 3 then I would be induced that following Friday, January 17th. If I hadn't progressed than we would induce on Wednesday January 22nd. Exactly 41 weeks. I was a little torn. Part of me was so relieved to finally have something planned out and set in stone. And part of me really, really didn't want to be induced and was sad that I might have to be. But of course, Miss Elli had some plans of her own. I basically didn't sleep Saturday night (the 11th) I am not sure why, I just felt stressed and restless and made Colton do a bunch of cleaning before I would finally go to bed even though it was really late because I just felt so stressed. So on Sunday I woke up feeling exhausted. We went to sacrament meeting and then I came home and just laid around doing nothing because I felt terrible. I was having contractions in my back and a few slightly painful ones in my stomach on and off, but nothing consistent. Then about half-way through the day I'm pretty sure I started losing my plug. I started to wonder if maybe I was getting close but I didn't want to get my hopes up and so I just let it go and didn't really say anything to Colton. We went to bed late again on Sunday night, and I still could not sleep. I maybe got five minutes in every hour of the night. I was still having small contractions but not time able really. Then about 4 am they started to get significantly more painful, I started timing then. At about 4:30 they were down to about 4 minutes apart and starting to get incredibly painful by that point. I finally woke Colton up and told him we should maybe think about going to the hospital. We called my mom, then waited a little bit just to make sure that they didn't go away anytime soon. After I had been having them consistently for almost an hour we got up and got ready then drove down to the hospital. It was just before 6 when we got there and so they got us in a room and the lady took one look at me during a contraction and said, "yeah, you probably had better get fully into a gown..." They checked me then at I was a 4 cm and about 70% effaced. I was so relieved to know that my contractions were actually doing something and that I wasn't still sitting at a 1.5 that I was at on my appointment on Friday. They hooked me up to the monitors and then we waited for an hour. At about 7:30 when they finally checked me again I was dilated to 5-5.5 and 80% effaced so we were officially admitted. They got my IV going and antibiotics hooked up and then we went through having contractions and coping for several hours. That was fun. Colton was great with helping me through and I had a fantastic nurse who was very supportive and very good at making sure I was breathing right and everything else and she never left the room. I'm very grateful that we ended up with her. At about 9:30 my doctor came by to check on things. I was dilated to a 7, 100% effaced and Elli was at 0 station. But I was starting to be in serious pain and after having not slept for the previous two nights I was exhausted, I also couldn't handle sitting in any other position than upright with my legs down so it was like murder to have to lay back long enough for them to check me. The doctor wanted to break my water at that point but because the contractions were so painful and I know they get more intense after your water breaks I decided to have him not. By 10 things were getting incredibly painful and I started to debate on getting an epidural. I wanted to go without but I was getting so tired. While I were debating, Dr Smith came to see how things were going. He did mention that it concerned him that I couldn't lay down during contractions because I would probably need to in order to push and I would probably have to push for 1-2 hours. After debating for a bit and having some really serious contractions I decided to go with the epidural. I know I could have gone without it and been just fine, but I don't regret doing it for a second. They put it in at about 1030 and it was seriously instant relief. The next contraction was just pressure and not pain. They doctor came back right after it kicked in, checked me again (8 cm) and broke my water. My parents got there around eleven and then at 1130 I was at a 10, 100% effaced, and at a +1 and we were technically ready to start pushing. My nurse though was great and was a firm believer in letting your body do a lot of the work and so she hooked me up to my second dose of antibiotics and let me sleep. I slept for a half hour or so while my dad took Colton down to the cafeteria and got him some food since he hadn't eaten anything all day, and then around 1230 in was time to start pushing. That was fun. With the epidural I couldn't move my legs at all, which is the weirdest feeling in the entire world I swear. So my mom and Colton helped hold them up and then we started pushing. The nurse couldn't get the heart rate monitor to stay on my stomach right and so after a while they hooked a probe up to Elli's head. The contraction monitor wasn't working very good either and so then with the epidural and the pressure of Elli's head I couldn't really tell when I was having contractions. We just kinda had to guess but it seemed that it worked. I pushed for about two hours and then the doctor came back. Another half hour of pushing and she finally popped right out. They put her up on my stomach and she was pretty much the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Colton got to cut her cord and I just looked at her. I didn't dare touch her because the nurse was rubbing her down and everything and she still had the probe on her head so I didn't know where to touch. They took her after a minute to go do her assessments and give her a few shots and I just got sewn up (had a 2nd degree tear) then they brought her back. Colton was so amazing to watch, he was so in love already, as was I. I got to do some skin to skin with her right away and then we attempted to breast feed, which she seemed to do okay. She was very alert already as well. It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences, even with the pain and I wouldn't change a single thing about it if I did it again.

The rest of our hospital stay was really good. My parents were there and Sarah came up to visit as well, but Dusty couldn't meet her yet because it's flu season. We had some stressful times because we had some struggles with breast feeding on day two that made me very stressed, but I think after several nurses trying to help we may have got things figured out a little better. Which I am grateful for. We got released to go home on Wednesday afternoon and have just been home since. Grandpa and grandma Savage came up to meet her on Friday and are very in love. She's the most mellow baby ever and sleeps a ton and really only cries if she really needs something. After being home almost a week things couldn't be better. Her grandpa Savage wrote her this poem that is too adorable not to share:

Elli

Today I held a princess in my arms,

mesmerized by her angelic charms

I gratefully thanked the heavens above

I am most assuredly smitten with love

She had ten precious fingers and ten little toes

two beautiful eyes and a button nose

whips of hair and skin so soft

a kiss on her check and my heart was aloft

She snuggled peacefully against my chest

and I knew in that moment I was truly blessed

A smile on her lips and a contented sigh