The Birth Story of Eleanor Grace

 Here is the birth story of our sweet Eleanor:

First things first, we went our whole pregnancy without announcing it. It was kind of fun to show up to things where someone didn't know I was pregnant and all of a sudden I was. 

You could barely see the line. I only tested because I could not figure out my cycle. I had covid in December which affected my cycle. We wanted to start trying, but since being sick everything had completely stopped. I took a test a couple days after we moved into our new house. Lo and behold, I was pregnant. So, the entire time we've lived in our new house I've been pregnant. Those dark winter days were long and exhausting with two toddlers and a new house to move into while being tired from first trimester. But we survived :)

The night we told our parents was a fun one. Ewan was wearing a "Big Bro" shirt for the announcement. 

By far my largest baby bump! (this was on my due date)

I'm actually a weirdo that enjoys pregnancy (well, until the very end usually). This pregnancy was quite different. This pregnancy's first trimester was the first time I experienced pretty bad nausea. I've always had it a little, but this was what I imagine "normal" pregnant women complain of. Everything made me sick and queasy. I was diagnosed with dysguesia, where everything had a metallic taste. Some things were more metallic and bitter than others, like eggs and chicken. I lived off of bready foods mostly because I was miserable eating anything else.

And then second trimester came along. I felt significantly better, but still had dysguesia. But I had more energy and felt like myself again. I'm glad it was during the summer where the kids and I could get out and do a lot together still. 

And like every pregnancy, third trimester was the hardest. But this time I was diagnosed with symphysis pubis dysfunction. The ligament at the bottom of my pelvis was loose and created a gap. This made it hard to walk up the stairs, get out bed, vacuum, drive, or lift heavy things. I had extreme pelvic pain and lower back pain that made every day tasks really hard for me. Eventually, in the last few weeks of pregnancy, I didn't do much more than survive at home with the kids. The thought of taking them out while trying to lift them into carseats or walk with anything heavier than my belly was too much. I also started experiencing prodromal labor that lasted weeks. Every night felt like I was going to start labor, but it would end by the morning. Pair that with insomnia and other unpleasant symptoms and you have my last trimester. 

I can't complain about all of it though. I went into this knowing it's probably my last pregnancy so I did my best to enjoy it. It never ceases to amaze me what a woman's body endures to create life. I really treasured the kicks, ultrasounds, growing belly, and life inside me. Pregnancy is such a unique experience where I was the only one that could feel and know my baby before anyone else. That is not lost on me. Even on the hard days, I did my best to appreciate the miracle. There was a time I thought I might never have children of my own. Our infertility days are not lost on this mama of three. 

And then it was time to give birth. With all my prodromal labor, I really thought baby was going to come early. But days and then weeks passed with no end in sight. I was always pregnant the next morning. Somehow those last few weeks are always an eternity. My due date (October 6th) came and went and I was still very pregnant. Isla arrived at 41 weeks and that was going to be the goal with this baby. We weren't comfortable going much over 41 when the risks of stillbirth and other complications go up. Besides, baby was measuring big and I was not interested in causing too much damage to my already weak pelvic floor. So the plan was to induce at 41 weeks if she hadn't arrived by then. But I was certain she would arrive before that. 

I called the office during my 40th week and said we had decided to set up an induction day for 41+1 weeks. I was then told that apparently the hospital was all booked up with "elective inductions" and they wouldn't have a spot for me until I was almost 42 weeks OR I could be induced the following day (at 40+5 weeks). I was devastated. Looking back now, I was probably being ridiculous. But I cried and cried knowing that my last labor ever was not going to be how I wanted. I was really hoping for a spontaneous labor and was so certain my body would do that by the end of the week. But I wasn't going to have the opportunity to find that out. I also was a nervous wreck about waiting until the following week when I would be almost 42 weeks. So we made the tough decision to move forward with induction. 

I was induced with Ewan and we followed the same method for this induction. I received a cook catheter the night before (October 11) at the doctor's office. I was given instructions to go home, rest, and show up at the hospital the following day at 3 am to start induction. I kept thinking my induction would go just like Ewan's induction. With his, I slept through the night with the cook catheter in place, woke up to it falling out of me (which meant I was at a 5 cm dilation), and then going to the hospital to peacefully start pitocin. That is NOT what happened this time. 

After getting the catheter placed, we picked up dinner and headed home. During dinner I started to cramp, but figured that was normal. I moved to the couch where the pain started to really take off. My mom was at our house to stay the night with the kids and secretly started timing my complaints of pain. After a few rounds of pain, she informed me that I had consistently been complaining every 6 minutes, almost right on the dot. I thought that sounded ridiculously fast and impossible and just considered it to be normal pain. Michael started to panic and opened his contraction app to start officially timing things. And just like that, I was contracting every 6 minutes, lasting for 45 seconds to a minute. This continued for an hour before I eventually called my cousin (who is an OB resident). She said it can definitely happen that fast and that I should probably go to the hospital. I was in denial, but Michael's panic forced me to go. So we arrived to the hospital about 8:30. 

By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions had started to spread out to every 6-10 minutes apart. But they admitted us since I was supposed to be there at 3:00 am anyway. At arrival, my bulb was still in place meaning I wasn't at 4 cm yet. So I continued to labor at the hospital. I tried to sleep, but my contractions were strong when they came and we were nervous/excited. 

At 3:30, they drained the bulb and measured me. The nurse quickly asked if I would be ok with someone else confirming her check. So they called in another nurse who informed me that I was already at a 7! I wasn't in too much pain at this point, but because things had escalated so quickly for me I was offered an epidural. They knew I eventually wanted an epidural as part of my pain management and they didn't want me to miss the window with how fast this was going. So I received the epidural around 4:30 and pitocin started at 5:00. 

And just like before at Ewan's birth, when I was laid on my back to receive a catheter I about passed out. They quickly turned me over as I did my best to stay conscious. And then we continued on with pitocin. I also at one point, got so sick and needed to throw up. My legs were wrapped around a peanut ball and I had no control with my epidural. So I started throwing up and aspirating vomit. Michael rescued me by pulling my legs out and sitting me up. Labor sure is fun :)

With the epidural fully going, two rounds of penicillin in me (because I was group B strep positive), and my pitocin continuing to increase every half hour, I decided to take a nap. That's about the only sleep I got in a 24 hour period. I suddenly woke up at 10:15 with the epidural wearing off and EXTREME pressure. I shot up and told Michael I needed to push NOW. He called the nurse who checked me and said "you're ready!". They told me to wait for the doctor, but the urge to push was overwhelming. I was starting to feel a lot even with the epidural. The doctor arrived at 10:36. She told me to listen to my body and push when I was ready. I started pushing at 10:41 and baby was in my arms at 10:45. A grand total of 4 minutes! 

There is absolutely nothing like having a baby inside of you and then on your chest. I immediately started sobbing and couldn't believe she had arrived! The nurses did a little body rubbing and throat sucking for her to figure out she was outside of me. But she remained on my chest the whole time and I just stared at her with the whirlwind around me. 

Because of my past with retained placenta, my doctor did a uterine sweep with a sponge. NOT enjoyable. I could feel her doing it and I could feel the placenta being delivered as well. I had not felt either of those with my last epidurals. I was able to cut the cord myself and needed two stitches. It was finally done! (And Michael didn't even pass out or throw up this time ;)). 

Of course afterwards I had the shakes pretty bad, but Eleanor remained on me the whole time and started nursing pretty soon after. She nursed for hours just like my other babies had done. Our hospital believes in delayed measurements, cleaning, and interventions which I really appreciate. I was given a golden hour(s) alone with Eleanor and Michael. 

All in all, things went well. Because I'm a hemorrhage risk I was started on a couple medications to help with the bleeding, but I didn't lose near the amount I did with the other two. I am still monitoring and continuing with medication for 6 weeks. I did find out, however, that I had a velamentous cord insertion that we had not known about. This means the umbilical cord was not entwined and encased in the gel-like substance that it usually is. And instead it attached to the placenta incorrectly and was unprotected. This causes all sorts of problems like fetal growth restriction (obviously not a problem for my 9 pound baby), stillbirth, extreme blood loss in baby at birth, and other complications at birth. It is very rare, occurring in only 1% of singleton pregnancies. It is so rare that they called in people to look at my cord and placenta. We had no idea and I'm glad we didn't or I would have been a nervous wreck my entire pregnancy. It probably would have resulted in an preterm c-section. I'm so thankful my baby was protected and arrived safely. The end results of a velamentous cord insertion can be quite scary and sad. This also confirmed in me that an induction was the right choice instead of waiting any longer and ending up with a sad outcome. The Lord was protecting all of us. 

So, at 10:45 am on 10/12/2022, our sweet Eleanor Grace arrived healthy and happy. She weighed 9 lb 6.1 oz and was 20 inches long. 

At first, breastfeeding was very painful this time around. We've already had a severe lip tie and tongue tie revision that slightly helped. But we are still working on figuring it out. We also really struggled the first week with sleep (what newborn doesn't?) because Eleanor would choke all night long on her mucus. Because she arrived so quickly, she wasn't able to naturally clear her airways. Laying on her back was really difficult, so Michael and I took shifts holding her upright all night long. She loves to eat all night long like any newborn, but I forgot just how exhausting that is. The first night in the hospital I pulled my second all nighter (after laboring the night before) where she nursed for almost 7 hours straight. I got a couple 10 minute increments of sleep. Every night since then, I've gotten about 2-3 hours of choppy sleep. But who needs sleep? I'll sleep when I'm dead. 

Bringing Eleanor home was so sweet and magical. Isla has been beyond excited to meet her baby sister. She wished and hoped for a girl and her dreams came true. Both kids have spent time fighting over who gets to hold their baby sister and Isla can't understand why we won't let her walk around with the baby. It's a learning curve and there have been big emotions, but everyone is doing their best. I am so proud of Isla and Ewan and the roles of big sister and big brother they've taken on. I can't wait to see how they grow with their sister.

Following Eleanor's birth I had some of my own health complications. One night I felt very flushed and took my blood pressure to find it was extremely high. After calling labor and delivery and getting ahold of my OB, I was put on blood pressure medication and told to stop my hemorrhage medication. I continued to monitor my blood pressure as it was lingering between 160-170/100+. I also had painful migraines and nausea suggesting postpartum preeclampsia. But because of my hemorrohage risk, I couldn't follow normal recommendations of magnesium for preeclampsia. So it became a watch and wait kind of situation. Eventually, my blood pressure went back to normal after ending my hemorrhage medications, but that only increased my anxiety as I waited around to bleed out. My doctor has done a fantastic job of checking in with me, answering all my questions, and continuing to monitor my health needs. I sure am thankful for good healthcare and the necessary medical interventions. And now at 3 weeks postpartum, I'm finally feeling like I am recovering normally. 

We are all continuing to adjust as a family of 5. I have the sweetest friends that have dropped off meals and the best sets of parents that have helped in every possible way. I am so appreciative of the love and support from others. It always makes a new mama feel good to know she's cared for :) And we are so in love and excited for our new addition to finally be here!