Welcome, Stella Mae Ratcliff!

After the all the griping on the blog post, I guess Stella heard me out!

Before I get into all the fine details, here's a picture of the little princess:

Our sweet girl in her coming home outfit! 

And yes, I think she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen :) 

So, it all started on Wednesday. I woke up, went to the gym, went to work, and knew I had an appointment at 10:15. Derek and I expected nothing to happen, so we didn't really take anything seriously. Heck, I didn't even log out of my computer at work, and I didn't pack a pair flip flops for Derek in the hospital bag, and I didn't grab our toothbrushes. I figured we'd be home that evening. I had chicken thawing for dinner and everything. 

We arrived at the doctor's office, and in the waiting area, I had a contraction. I looked at Derek, and we were both like, "Eh, it was probably just nothing." I was called back, gave my urine sample, and all of sudden, I had like 3 more contractions while we were in sub-waiting. One of the nurses noticed, and she goes, "Are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, just false labor. No big deal." She walked by again as contraction number three happened, and she goes, "That's it. You're getting hooked up to a machine." They hooked me up to the contraction monitor, and I was having regular contractions, every minute or so. Dr. Helmken came in, and she told me she'd check my cervix. 

When she checked my cervix, I was one centimeter dilated and contracting for real. She said, "Well, today's a good day to have a baby." She had me go to labor and delivery, and Derek and I were still in disbelief. We still hadn't called our jobs or our mothers at this point. We thought, "Eh, nothing may still come of it." 

We got there, and they told me that Dr. Helmken wanted me to start Pitocin (which induces labor) to get things moving. After I got settled into L&D Room 10, Derek and I realized it was actually happening. 

I continued having contractions for about another hour or so, and at about 1, Dr. Helmken showed up. She just walked in, checked my cervix. And, without warning, she broke my water. I was like, "What was that?" She said, "Your water." I was like, "Woah, that felt like I peed myself." The contractions hit harder than ever, and I continued to labor until about 5pm. Here's an action shot:

I was still relatively happy at this point - it's roughly 2pm here.

Derek, looking super excited

At around 5pm, the contractions were horribly painful. I was almost 3cm and 75% effaced. I looked at Derek, sobbing in pain, and I said, "I can't continue doing this." He and I talked, and I decided to get an epidural. I know I said I wouldn't, but you heard it here first, folks, I caved and I was all talk. That shit hurts. 

I got my epidural around 5pm, and I was feeling good again. I had some ice chips to celebrate:

Well, at 7pm, I hadn't progressed at all, and Dr. Helmken turned me over to Dr. Hull, the on call doctor from our office. I started noticing that I was having terrible pain my left side, and I told the nurse. She said, "Hm... let me call anesthesia. That doesn't sound right." Well, apparently, my epidural only took on the right side. They gave me some extra drugs to help with the pain on my left, and that helped a lot. 

Well, around 10, I was dilated at 5cm, and I was having some awful pain on the left side. I asked for more drugs for my left side, and they said my blood pressure was too low. It was around 11pm when Dr. Hull checked me and she said that if I wasn't dilated to at least 8cm by 12:30 am or so, then we may need to do a C-section. 

With all of the pain on my left side, I thought, "Yes! Freedom! The end is in sight!" At this point in the evening, I was crying and contracting like crazy. I thought my pelvis was being ripped out through my left leg. 

At 12:30, the nurse checked me, and I they were amazed that I was definitely at 8cm. I thought, "Crap, there goes my out..." I was completely miserable. 

I kept crying and saying, "Derek, I can't do this anymore..." Derek was amazing, though. He kept soothing me and rubbing my neck. He kept telling me that I was doing a great job. He was simply amazing. 

At about 1:15 or so, the nurse checked me, and I was completely dilated. Dr. Hull came in and said I was ready to start pushing. I thought, "Yes! Here's my end! I can do this!" 

The nurse got me all set up and Derek held my right leg while the nurse held my left. I started pushing with the contractions. It was a relief for the pain since I felt that I was doing something about the pain rather than just sitting there taking it. I was also having some problems with infection. I was running a temperature, so I kept getting plenty of antibiotics through the whole process. 

Well, it was no NEAR end in sight. I pushed and pushed, and Stella wasn't born until 3:58 am. Yes, that's right. I pushed for all of that time, and at about 3, Dr. Hull said, "If you can't get her through your pelvic bone, we're going to do a C-section. Let's try just a little more." I started crying and saying, "I'm exhausted. I can't keep going." She said, "I know, but  it's so much better if you can deliver vaginally." I softly replied, "I know... but this is so hard." 

Well, I kept pushing and pulling on a towel with the nurse to try and force Stella out. Finally, Dr. Hull said, "Alright. Let's at least try a vacuum." She busts out the vacuum, and then finally, she decided to squeeze out. Derek was all teared up, and he said, "There she is!" I couldn't believe it happened. I actually did it. I delivered vaginally. I kept asking if she had hair, and Derek ran over to the warmer with her while Dr. Hull continued working on me. I didn't even care what was happening at this point. I had to have some stitches, but all was well. She was born at 3:58 am, weighing 6lbs and 15 oz. She was 19 inches long. 

Derek took some quick shots:

Here, you can see how my skin was all blotchy from delivery. I didn't look good... at all. We did the skin to skin thing, and Stella latched right away. Breastfeeding was too easy. I couldn't believe it. Everything was perfect - she was eating, she was healthy, and all things considered, I felt much better. 

We stayed in our room, and they finally brought me some food. I was starving and had been dreaming of a cheeseburger. I got a cold turkey sandwich, but I didn't care. It was heavenly. 

We moved to our mother-baby unit around 5am. Derek and I had been up for 24 hours, and we were sooo tired. And remember that I said I didn't pack shoes for Derek... well, he wore mine. He became known in the nursery as the dad with pink flip flops:

Our moms made it, and our awesome friends Kerry and Chris came to visit. We didn't get much sleep since the nurses wouldn't leave me alone. 

Well, that's the birth story. All turned out well. I'm feeling pretty well now. My belly has shrank so much. Derek is amazing. He's a swaddling master, and he's a diaper changing master:

Now, I better get off here - Stella is hungry and her wonderful father is shushing her so I can finish... I'll post more pictures of the little darling later :)