After 8 1/2 long months the time had come for our baby (who my darling husband nicknamed "Chester"). The date was Tuesday 30th September 2008. My Obstetrician Dr W was inducing me at 8.30am!!
Photo: Me on the morning of my induction. Not the most flattering shot *LOL* but what can you expect at 38weeks pregnant in addition to Steve being the photographer *LOL*
So Steve & I left home at 7.00am and arrived at Tina's house (my sister) and then finally arrived at the Figtree Private Hospital at 7.30am.
Wow the emotions running through my mind & body on that morning... I was so scared, excited, nervous and much much more!
So, after all the boring administration stuff I was admitted and Steve, Tina & I were taken to the delivery suite. At the start things were all nice and relaxed, I was ready to meet my baby and couldn't wait ...
I had 2 midwives. One was Anne - she was the head midwife and the other was Chris - they were both very nice and reassuring. I also had Dr W. Anne did explain that she had some rules in her delivery rooms (I was interested to hear what "rules" they expected a labouring mother to abide by). Anne explained the 3 rules:
Wow the emotions running through my mind & body on that morning... I was so scared, excited, nervous and much much more!
So, after all the boring administration stuff I was admitted and Steve, Tina & I were taken to the delivery suite. At the start things were all nice and relaxed, I was ready to meet my baby and couldn't wait ...
I had 2 midwives. One was Anne - she was the head midwife and the other was Chris - they were both very nice and reassuring. I also had Dr W. Anne did explain that she had some rules in her delivery rooms (I was interested to hear what "rules" they expected a labouring mother to abide by). Anne explained the 3 rules:
- Under no circumstance was I allowed to vomit on her. hehe. She went on too explain it's OK to vomit on anyone else - just not her *lol*
- Do not apologise - I thought this was a great one as I was sure I was going to maybe say a few words that I usually wouldn't say in public *lol*
- The most important apparently - she said "if you break rule #1, feel free to break rule #2"
At this point I was laughing and having a great time - I began to relax a little. Then they started me on the drip and broke my waters, all good to begin with ... then BAM the contractions hit and hit hard! My birth plan for a natural birth with no pain relief was slowly flying out the window *lol*.
At this point times & events do get a little hazy and I really regret not jotting it all down at the time as I find it hard now (12 months down the track) to remember exactly what happened and when. One thing I know for sure is that I couldn't have done this without Steve & Tina by my side and will be forever greatful that they were with me during this amazing time. :-)
Once we were off and running (so to speak) I remember telling Steve that I wasn't sure I wanted to do this anymore hehe, poor Steve I can just imagine what was going through his head at that moment.
By mid morning the contractions were pretty regular and took my breath away, they gave me the gas - oh yeah ... that did it :) Was loving it ... till the pain got worse :-(
Around lunch time Dr W came to visit me ... he told me I was progressing well and he expects bubba to be joining us "shortly". This was very encouraging. Over the next few hours everything felt like it was all going wrong. The pain was incredible, I wanted to go home (and told Steve this several times *lol*) and it really wasn't like I had imagined after reading all those birthing books. I ended up having a pethidine shot and that helped. We knew that the birth was a while away so felt comfortable that the drug wouldn't harm our baby.
I remember around this time as I was "quite relaxed and sleepy" from the Pethidine that my midwife Chris came to see how I was going and while I appeared to be "napping" I could hear them all talking... Steve and Chris were talking and Chris joked to Steve that "she's not so happy now" *lol* I wanted to slap him but he was 100% right. My happy-go-lucky mood from earlier that morning was long gone hehe.
By late afternoon the pain was getting pretty bad - I asked for an epidural. I had to wait about an hour but it felt like days! When the anesthetist finally arrived I was so glad. He did his thing and then things were calm again. For now ...
According to Steve and Tina, after the epidural was in I became very sleepy. They told me that I was sleeping peacefully while they could see on my monitors that I was having some pretty big contractions. Thank god I wasn't feeling them *lol*
Dr W came back to see me at around 6pm and I remember things got a little crazy at this point as it was "change of shift" time. Anne had bid me farewell and wished me all the best, Chris stayed for a little bit but also ended up saying bye bye and leaving. My new midwife was Janette. She was so nice, gentle & sweet.
At this point I recall telling Dr W that I felt I needed to push. So we gave that a go ...
This was not a pretty sight ... even with the epidural in I was experiencing extreme pain. We soon found out that "Chester" had decided to flip upside down and was now in the posterior position - Good one sweetheart!! I remember begging Dr W to "help me" (like he hadn't heard that a million times in the last year hehe). He told me we could try the vacuum. So here we go about to try sucking our little bubba out but nope ... bubba had other plans ...
Dr W did yet another check and found that our sweet child had the the same directional sense as his/her father/my darling husband Steve. It was apparent at this point (10hrs since I was induced) that Chester was stuck and was not coming out naturally. At 7.00pm I was moved to a different bed, my epidural was topped up and I was wheeled into theater for an emergency Cesarean Section.
Our beautiful baby girl Ella Jean was born at 7.31pm Tuesday 30th September 2008.
Ella was born 7pd 12oz/3515grams, she was 49.5cm long and her head circumference was 36.5cm
Ella's name was chosen in honour of both her grandmothers. My mum Elizabeth (who sadly passed away in 1993) had the nickname "Ela" and she loved it - so there was no question about if we had a girl what we would call her. Ella's middle name comes from Steve's mum. Kerry Jean ... And so Miss Ella Jean was her name and Steve and I hope she loves it as much as we do... I know it would have meant the world to my mum and I know it meant a lot to Kerry also.
Little Miss Ella then had to visit the Special Care Nursery (SCN) as she had to have her blood sugars monitored due to me having Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy.
At this point times & events do get a little hazy and I really regret not jotting it all down at the time as I find it hard now (12 months down the track) to remember exactly what happened and when. One thing I know for sure is that I couldn't have done this without Steve & Tina by my side and will be forever greatful that they were with me during this amazing time. :-)
Once we were off and running (so to speak) I remember telling Steve that I wasn't sure I wanted to do this anymore hehe, poor Steve I can just imagine what was going through his head at that moment.
By mid morning the contractions were pretty regular and took my breath away, they gave me the gas - oh yeah ... that did it :) Was loving it ... till the pain got worse :-(
Around lunch time Dr W came to visit me ... he told me I was progressing well and he expects bubba to be joining us "shortly". This was very encouraging. Over the next few hours everything felt like it was all going wrong. The pain was incredible, I wanted to go home (and told Steve this several times *lol*) and it really wasn't like I had imagined after reading all those birthing books. I ended up having a pethidine shot and that helped. We knew that the birth was a while away so felt comfortable that the drug wouldn't harm our baby.
I remember around this time as I was "quite relaxed and sleepy" from the Pethidine that my midwife Chris came to see how I was going and while I appeared to be "napping" I could hear them all talking... Steve and Chris were talking and Chris joked to Steve that "she's not so happy now" *lol* I wanted to slap him but he was 100% right. My happy-go-lucky mood from earlier that morning was long gone hehe.
By late afternoon the pain was getting pretty bad - I asked for an epidural. I had to wait about an hour but it felt like days! When the anesthetist finally arrived I was so glad. He did his thing and then things were calm again. For now ...
According to Steve and Tina, after the epidural was in I became very sleepy. They told me that I was sleeping peacefully while they could see on my monitors that I was having some pretty big contractions. Thank god I wasn't feeling them *lol*
Dr W came back to see me at around 6pm and I remember things got a little crazy at this point as it was "change of shift" time. Anne had bid me farewell and wished me all the best, Chris stayed for a little bit but also ended up saying bye bye and leaving. My new midwife was Janette. She was so nice, gentle & sweet.
At this point I recall telling Dr W that I felt I needed to push. So we gave that a go ...
This was not a pretty sight ... even with the epidural in I was experiencing extreme pain. We soon found out that "Chester" had decided to flip upside down and was now in the posterior position - Good one sweetheart!! I remember begging Dr W to "help me" (like he hadn't heard that a million times in the last year hehe). He told me we could try the vacuum. So here we go about to try sucking our little bubba out but nope ... bubba had other plans ...
Dr W did yet another check and found that our sweet child had the the same directional sense as his/her father/my darling husband Steve. It was apparent at this point (10hrs since I was induced) that Chester was stuck and was not coming out naturally. At 7.00pm I was moved to a different bed, my epidural was topped up and I was wheeled into theater for an emergency Cesarean Section.
Our beautiful baby girl Ella Jean was born at 7.31pm Tuesday 30th September 2008.
Ella was born 7pd 12oz/3515grams, she was 49.5cm long and her head circumference was 36.5cm
Ella's name was chosen in honour of both her grandmothers. My mum Elizabeth (who sadly passed away in 1993) had the nickname "Ela" and she loved it - so there was no question about if we had a girl what we would call her. Ella's middle name comes from Steve's mum. Kerry Jean ... And so Miss Ella Jean was her name and Steve and I hope she loves it as much as we do... I know it would have meant the world to my mum and I know it meant a lot to Kerry also.
Little Miss Ella then had to visit the Special Care Nursery (SCN) as she had to have her blood sugars monitored due to me having Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy.
Photo: Ella & daddy having their first cuddle in the Special Care Nursery (SCN).Daddy got to feed Ella her first feed seeing as I was in recovery. She drank 20mls and was full ... hehe
Photo: Ella's 1st cuddles with Aunty Tina. Do you think Aunty Tina was happy?hehe such a genuine (& tired) smile :-)
I was finally taken back to my room (from recovery) at 9.30pm where I was able to have my first real cuddles with my new little baby girl. I was still in shock that she was a girl. I was positive throughout my pregnancy that I was carrying a boy! What a nice surprise she was.
Photo: Ella & Mummy's first cuddles. 
Photo: Our first family photo :)And so our journey continues .... :-)
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