The Binghams..: 2012

September 24th 2011 Nathan and I got up early to make our way to Mckay Dee Hospital to get ready for the beginning of the rest of our lives..

1 week previous to going to the hospital to have Ella I had my last check-up at my doctors office. I was only dilated to a 1 1/2 but I had started thinning so my doctor gave us the ok to plan on going to the doctor the next Saturday. My original due date was September 28 but due to the fact that my parents were leaving the country the first week of October, I talked my doctor into getting me started so I could have the help of my mom for the first week or so. Best decision I ever made. I was so blessed to have her helping me.

When we arrived at the hospital around 8:00 am on Saturday I was feeling great, I had got a full nights rest the night before and I was ready for whatever was going to come. Nathan and I walked into the hospital and because I wasn't sure if I had dilated any more I asked him if we could take the stairs to the 4th floor just to help out the cause. So we did. As we walked up the stairs to the 4th floor I made it just fine only to find out that you cannot enter the 4th floor without a key card to get you in. I'm still not sure if we picked a random set of stairs that maybe were used for employees only or if you really cant get through. We then turned around, walked down the 4 flights of stairs and proceeded to the elevator.

It was a quiet morning and we were welcomed by a few different people and got checked in to our room. I was flattered by 2 of the nurses who both told me I didn't look big enough to be having a baby yet. That is definitely not the way I felt but I was so grateful for their nice gestures. :)

Once I got changed and set up the labor and delivery nurse came in and checked me and I hadn't progressed at all. After signing all the millions of documents and answering every possible personal question you could think of I was started with Oxytocin and we were ready to get on our way.

Can I just say, I LOVED the labor and delivery nurses at Mckay Dee. They were all so amazing! It was a little different story for the nurses that take care of you after.. but I truly was so blessed to have awesome people working and keeping me entertained throughout the long day.

A little while after getting put on the Oxytocin the fun contractions got started. At first they weren't too bad but by about 1:00pm I decided that my white knuckles and teeth marks on the bed were a good indication that it was time for the epidural. (Ok, I didn't bite the bed but oh how I wanted to.) That is an indescribable feeling and I respect and don't know how you women that don't get drugged handle that incredible pain. Props to you.

At that point I was only at a 3 and started to get very frustrated. I knew that it had only been 5 hours but in my head I kept telling myself that I was going to have an abnormal first pregnancy and everything was going to go really fast. Wrong. Very Wrong.

The doctor came in and broke my water about 4:00 (In her mini skirt and tank top, might I add. She was on call and looked like she had been having a fun day. I love her!!) We still weren't progressing and about every 30 minutes the nurses would come in and adjust my position to see if we could get anything to work.

As time went on the nurses started keeping an eye on Ella's heart rate as it kept dropping really low when I would adjust my position and it started to stress me out so bad. I know the nurses could tell that I was starting to get nervous but the kept assuring me everything would be ok. At this point they were checking her heart rate about every 10 minutes and a couple times they had multiple people in our room watching the monitors.

7:00pm rolled around and the nurse came back in to check on me and see where we were at. I was at a 6 and I think at that point they were trying to decide what to try next to get our little angel here. 20 minutes later the nurse came back into give me some more medication to get things rolling and I had already dilated to a 7 then 8.

By 8:30 things were moving quickly and my OB was called to come back in. I remember having so many mixed emotions at this point. Frustrated that it was 9:00pm and we were still without a baby, Nervous that within a matter of minutes I was going to be experiencing something that I had been dreading but at the same time looking forward to for my whole life, Excited, Frightened for Ella's health and praying for her health, not knowing whether to cry or smile..all of you moms know what I am talking about. But overall, I was so excited to bring this little angel into Nathan and my life.

9:30: After a few concentrated pushes and after laughing my head off at the nurses and doctors and Nathan having a discussion about Mr. Potato head while I am giving birth our little Ella took her first breath of air and started to cry.

There are no words to describe that first moment of meeting Ella. I remember looking at Nathan and then looking at Ella and tears filling my eyes. What a miracle babies are. What a blessing it is to have them be part of our lives.