Now that I finally have the time, I thought now was the best time to share Ellie’s birth story.

On the morning of December 15th, which also happened to be my birthday, I began experiencing contractions that were finally coming at regular intervals.  This began right around 5am so I decided to finally keep track of them.  When the Alex walked in the door shortly after 6am I informed him that the contractions I had been having most of the week had now progressed and were now  establishing a pattern.  Together we decided to wait things out and see if there was any change as we waited to get the kids off to school.  Neither of us said a word to the kids that morning and just sent them on their way.  Once the Alex returned from dropping them off we decided to call my doctor’s office and let them know what was going on and see what their thought’s were given the fact that I had only gone into labor naturally once before and my history of laboring rapidly.  Based on what I was currently experiencing and my history it was decided that I should head to the hospital and have things checked out.

When we arrived at the hospital we were brought into a room so I could be evaluated.  After checking my cervix, we learned that I was dilated 3cm and 60% effaced.  I was surprised to say the least.  Here I was, on my birthday, laying in a bed at the hospital and possibly having a baby.

The thought was CRAZY!

What was even crazier was that Ellie wasn’t expected to arrive until January 12th.

After checking everything out, I was hooked up to the monitors to measure my contractions and check on baby.  We also learned at this time that baby had finally flipped and was no longer breech.  This was such great news to receive on my birthday as I had been terrified for months that I would have to undergo my first c-section.  Needless to say I was beyond excited!

I laid in the bed contracting for the next hour waiting to be checked to see if I had made any progress so we could determine if I was actually in labor.  An hour and a half since I was first checked, the nurse came in to check my cervix again and there was no change.  After talking with the doctor on call from my OB-GYN office I was told I could stay at the hospital and wait things out and see if I made any progress or I could go home and see what happens.  I opted to go home.  It was my birthday after all!

We stopped for lunch on the way home, got to the house and the Alex, Alexander and I all laid down to take a nap.  Later that evening my mom came and took Zack and Libby home with her and Alexander went off to my in-laws house and I opted to stay home alone for the night while the hubs was at work.  I figured this was in my best interest because I really needed the rest and had A LOT to do the next morning.

The next morning Alex returned from work to check on me and then we went over to my parents house to bring Zack and Libby to school.  Once we brought them to school we made our way over to my in-laws house to scoop Alexander before heading to the store to finish up not just our Christmas shopping but our baby shopping too.  Up until this point we didn’t even have a car seat for Ellie!

Once we completed all of our shopping we made our way home and I wrapped gifts continuously until it was all done, washed all of the new baby clothing and other baby items we had purchased.  After I had finished everything we decided to head to Red Robin for lunch since I didn’t get to do anything special for my birthday and was craving a patty melt like crazy.

Throughout everything since I had left the hospital the day before I continued to feel the contractions but it had got to the point where I pretty much learned to ignore them.

After lunch we made our way to the school to pick Zack and Libby up and headed home so I could get ready to head to the doctor’s office for my 36 week check.

We arrived at the doctor’s office and I was extremely uncomfortable.  I was still contracting, my lower back was killing me and I was exhausted!!  Also by this time I had experienced the bloody show and was 100% certain that I had lost my mucus plug.  I met with the nurse practitioner and explained everything to her that had happened in the last 24+ hours. she checked my cervix and informed me there was still no change from the day before.  Once she completed my check she talked with the doctor on staff that day and they thought that I possibly had an bladder infection that was causing me to contract and causing the back pain so they had me pee in a cup before sending me on my way.

Right before I left the office, the nurse practitioner asked me if I felt like I was in actual labor.  I informed her that yes, I did feel like it.  Everything felt exactly the same as it did when I had gone into labor naturally with the Libby.  After our chat I stopped at the desk to schedule my next appointment and told the girls I wasn’t going to make it until then and that I was definitely having a baby before the weekend ended and then, we ventured home.

*Watch for part 2 on Wednesday!