Ella Madeline: Our labor story

Ella Madeline was born on June 8th, 6:03PM, 7 lbs, 12 oz, 20 inches long. I was induced at 38 weeks and had a vaginal birth with the help of Pitocin, an epidural, some great nurses and a fantastic midwife. She is very healthy and absolutely perfect.


Details if you want them:

Thursday June 3, I went in for my 38 week check and complained of uncontrollable itchiness all over my body. I wasn't too worried about it besides my ugly hives and inability to sleep but my OB ordered blood tests to check my liver and said I could be at risk for cholestasis (a condition where the flow of bile from the liver is blocked and bile acids are deposited in the skin causing itching). I took the blood tests and thought nothing of it. Later the next day, 2 of the 3 tests came in and they were both normal. Yay! Saturday the last test finally came in and much to my surprise my bile acid levels were more than triple the normal. I walk into Kaiser a little concerned and talk to a random OB who didn't seem worried because it was only one test out of three. He said to wait until Monday to talk to my OB. Monday comes along...

Monday, June 7th

8:41AM: My doctor calls and says that she going to have me induced ASAP and she will call me later to tell me what time I can come into Labor and Delivery. I am in shock and tell her my kick counts are amazing and my itching has gotten better. She told me if the baby is in my uterus longer there would be increase risk of stillbirth or intrauterine death. (Way to wake someone up Monday morning huh?)

8:57AM: I finally get in touch with my hubby, Adam. I am absolutely in hysterics. This was definitely not in my birth plan and now I was worrying about an increased risk for c-section and a possible stillbirth or INTRAUTERINE DEATH. He tries to calm me down and leaves work immediately.

10:10AM: My OB calls back and says I can come in to Kaiser immediately. Pack my bags...I'm having my baby.

12:00PM: We checked in to Kaiser Hotel..I mean Kaiser Roseville with our 4 bags and birthing ball. (I'm not absolutely nuts...camera bag, purse, suitcase and laptop bag...4 reasonable bags). I wanted a midwife but they put me in the higher risk section since I was being induced. They said they would still check for me since they didn't foresee anything being a problem.

3:15PM: They gave me Misoprostol to soften my cervix. Adam and I start walking around and I also get some time on my birthing ball. I don't have strong contractions at this point so I'm just practicing, hoping to use gravity as much as possible before I get the epidural.

7:45PM: I'm 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced and they're ecstatic and surprised. They say my walking around must really be helping so they encourage me to do more and that they'd give me Pitocin when I was done. Hubby and I walk around the halls and outdoor courtyard and do lunges on the chairs. I had decided on getting an epidural when I absolutely couldn't take it anymore...(since I had never labored before--I set this mentally at 6 cm). The thought of not being able to let gravity assist while I had the epidural scared me so I did everything I could to settle her into my pelvis better: walking, lunges, birthing ball, moon flowers and squats. Adam even did everything with me. It took my mind off things to see him try the poses.

9:25PM: I get attached to the Pitocin and they said my contractions and labor should start progressing faster. I do start feeling them more and try to sit on my ball but I can't go far because now I'm hooked up to the drip. I play Pachabel in the Garden and I feel.....relaxed. :)

Tuesday, June 8th:

4:00AM: I have not slept at all. Who can sleep through contractions? (You are amazing and I envy you like crazy if you can.) I am so excited to see how far I've progressed even though getting my cervix checked is not on my top list of things to do...especially since my cervix was really posterior. (Can we say, take me out to dinner and tell me I'm pretty before you glove up and go at it doctor?) And much to my complete and utter dismay (and Adam's).....I'm still only 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. They talk about breaking my bag of waters and leave me to think about it and progress a little more. At this point my cramps feel like my period cramps and are tolerable but still sleeping is not an option.

9:20AM: Although I am hesitant about them breaking my water, the OB points out that I'm not here as a regular birthing situation but as an induction and so they should well...induce. I concede to her rationale and they recheck my cervix and I'm 5cm dilated and still 80% effaced. They poke me with some "chopsticks" and out gushes so much liquid, it's ridiculous. (It continues to leak for forever pretty much). They warn me that I will definitely feel my labor now since baby will be pounding on my cervix with no cushion. They ask if I want the epidural yet and since it had been so tolerable, and I naively tell them I want to use gravity a little longer. (I don't regret this but it was naive to not believe how much pain I would be in.) Adam does more poses with me. haha He was an amazing support person and every nurse commented how great he was: massaging me, encouraging me, helping me labor and do poses and even cleaning up my amniotic fluid as it continued to leak constantly since my water broke. He did everything he possibly could to make it easier on me.

11:10AM: I go from pleasant Lauren to a crazy woman almost instantly. I am in tears begging for my epidural. Things start to blur at this point since I'm literally going insane. My nurse leaves for about 5 minutes to get the anesthesiologist and I remember I kept accusing her of forgetting about me and leaving me to the wolves. (My hubby found that hilarious). I started cursing and crying and I squeezed Adam's hand so tightly, he still has scars. I tried breathing through the pain but about half the time I was crying and moaning. Why didn't they warn me about this? (Oh wait...they did...hehe)

11:30AM: Finally I get my epidural (after 2 attempts on the anesthesiologist's part and more crying on my part) and I'm dilated to 7 cm and I'm 100% effaced but my cervix is still posterior. Let me tell you....people are not lying....the eipdural was like instant heaven. (Why did I wait so long to get it again? Oh yeah....gravity.) I turned back into myself and was finally able to get some much need sleep. Surprisingly, I could move my legs a little and wiggle my toes. I thought I would be "paralyzed" and kept commenting that it was interesting I could move my legs and feet. They felt inclined to warn me not to get up since the fact I could move my legs a little was very deceiving and I would collapse if I tried to get up. (Yeah, I really had plans to get up and start dancing the jig at this point....I was just surprised....I'm not that crazy nurses...) At this point they say that they have to ask the midwife if she'll deliver me since she's on the opposite side of labor and delivery and has patients there as well.

4:15PM: The right side of my body is completely numb but I felt some mild pain and pressure on the left side of my uterus with every contraction. They say this is normal but of course I'm concerned to feel any "pain". I ask 3 different nurses and they all tell me not to worry. Sometimes one side just gets more and they encourage me to press the "magic button" for more meds if I need to. At this point I'm happy because the midwife says she'd love to deliver my baby and she heads over. The midwife, Gina, finally rechecks my cervix and I'm 10 cm dilated and ready to rock and roll!!! I did a practice push for her and she gave me the decision to start pushing now or rest for 20 min and wait for my cervix to progress downwards a little more. I ask her what would be best and she says it sounds like I want to wait (she was right). She asked me if I had any concerns besides an episiotomy or c-section (how did she know these were my concerns?....she was psychic I tell you). I responded jokingly....I worry if my baby will have hair and I got a laugh out of her. (My hubby was bald for his first 3 years of life).

4:45PM: I give my first push and the midwife says I'm a great pusher and will definitely have my daughter in my arms in less than 2 hours. Many pushes later, she sees her crown and says, "Well your daughter has hair. I think we can get you out without any of your fears coming true". (My midwife rocked..if you have Kaiser, I highly recommend Midwife Gina Jensen-Hill. lol)

6:03PM: She was right about everything. Ella Madeline was born 7lbs, 12 oz, 20 inches long and absolutely healthy and perfect in every way.


And I have labor goggles like all new Moms....all I can think was she is the most gorgeous baby I have ever seen in my life. She looks liked a perfect mix of Adam and me and we are both completely in love. She is absolutely precious and we can't believe we had the ability to create something so amazing. My 10 week long ALL DAY sickness, heart burn, acne, itchiness, lack of sleep, back pain, swollen legs and feet, my cankles, stretch marks, scars and stitches.....all completely worth it. We felt like a family immediately and can't imagine not having her with us. Thanks for reading. :)





5 minutes old!


Sleep deprived family

Teresa is a better blogger

Who would have thought? :-P

Although it's not worse than morning sickness...I'm going absolutely insane right now. Cankles so horrible I call myself Shrek, terrible itching all over my body (I feel like a leper), nightmarish indigestion, lower back pain, sleepless nights...all coupled with my inability to walk normally--welcome Mrs. Van Winkle to the final month of pregnancy. And here I am at work.....perfect. Could I possibly torture myself any more than I am?



The only thing that keeps my spirits up is knowing I'll be holding my baby girl in less than a month. I wonder who she'll look like, what she'll be like, what dreams she'll have..... I hope she has Adam's tenacity, passion, temperament, conviction, humor and insatiable thirst for knowledge and the truth. Half me, half him, yet 100% her own. Any day now.....

L.O.V.E.

Baby L is so loved.

Third Trimester

Hello Third Trimester! And here I am with a single post to my name. Shame on me. I'm the worst blogger ever. :) Less than 10 weeks to go now. We got our little "Baby Mobile", affectionally named Johnny5. I can't wait to get L's carseat in there and imagine all the adventures Team V Dub is going to have. So, what is a Mazda5? Well it's a weird looking hatchback/wagon/mini mini van that no one has ever heard of. haha I love it though. It has sliding doors but is way smaller than a mini van, great safety ratings, a cult following in Europe and Japan, room for 6, 27 mpgs and best of all under 20k. haha Neither of us has any experience with Mazda so we'll let you know if Johnny5 lives up to the hype. ;)

6 months pregnant!

I can't believe how the time flies by. Pretty soon, we'll have a crying, hungry, pooping bundle of joy in our midst. :) We've had a long run I suppose. We almost made it 10 years together...just us...plus a couple of strays we picked up along the way. We're two of the happiest people we know....and everyone says kids are definitely a lifechanger (for the best). So, logically we're going to be ridiculously, incandescently happy (anyone like Pride and Prejudice?) with our baby girl added to the mix. Sure, some things we're used to might be altered beyond recognition.....like randomly going out to sushi on a weeknight. haha Or going to Europe for 2 weeks (at least for now). I supposed trading in sushi for Old Spaghetti Factory isn't so bad (am I convincing anyone here?) And a trip on a Disney Cruise can replace a gondola in Venice? Actually vacation money is probably going in the college fund...so scratch the cruise. Hmm...... so we're left with a lot of nights at home watching Pixar films on repeat until we can recite every line with utter perfection and disdain. hehe



Did I mention I'm not a fan of babies? Most people don't know that about me because I love kids and I look like a baby person. I do love kids. Babies....not so much. Cross-eyed, drooling, needy, ,poopy, screaming little buggers. And despite what any mother will tell you, (maybe me included) they're rather unfortunate looking. I mean...granted some look better than others but what do you expect them to look like after being squeezed through the birth canal after spending months housed in a strange bodily fluid? Cute? I can come up with a couple of choice adjectives but cute aint one of them. I haven't met a mother who didn't think her newborn was "the cutest newborn". I just smile politely and nod. Am I going to be one of those?!? Maybe it's all the pain meds they pump you full of, the lack of sleep, the grueling labor and the 10 months of torture? That would be a rational explaination for this phenomenon. I mean...no one wants to work on something for 10 months and have it come out subpar. It's like beer goggles, except we can call them Post-Labor goggles. I'll definitely tell you if I fall victim. And I can hear it in my head right now....the Moms justifying to themselves that depsite the logic I present, that their newborns were indeed..."cute". lol Almost anyone outside your family who has never endured childbirth will look you in the eyes, smile and nod. No one would dare argue a Mom. They have super powers you know? Now, when I claim my newborn looks "cute", and not like an unfortunate Benjamin Button......just smile and nod for me.