Special Delivery

Thursday morning (January 20th), I went in to my doctor's for an appointment that I was not expecting to have reason to schedule. The time I could be seen was 8:30 a.m. with Dr. Rees.  When he examined me, he said he was surprised I had been sent home from the hospital the previous Monday.  He also mentioned that my blood pressure results turned out to be a little high--not enough to get all concerned and worked up about, but enough for him to use it as an excuse to send me to the hospital to have my labor induced.  He told me to go to the hospital right then, and he would call to make the arrangements for my admittance. 

I was taken off guard a little.  I hadn't brought my bag with me or anything, and I certainly wasn't expecting to go to the hospital in the morning (I tend to labor in the evenings and through the middle of the nights). Fortunately, Jason had come with me to be with Garrett and Spencer in the waiting area during my appointment.  He was planning to go to work right after, but was sent home to make arrangements for the boys and return to the hospital with my things instead.  While he was doing that, I headed over to check in to Labor and Delivery for a third time, stalling as much as possible to give Jason time to get there.

My nurse, Tricia, had been the one to observe me during my first visit, and I was thrilled to have her for the real delivery.  She was a sweetheart!  She got me all set up with monitors and an IV while Jason was arriving. She also checked my blood pressure, which was normal (too funny).  Dr. Drewes came in to break my water and start me on a low-dose of Pitocin at 10:45 a.m.  I was then allowed to receive the epidural, which I gladly accepted, and things were well on their way! 

True to form, I delivered a baby within two hours of having my water broken.  Dr. Drewes and Tricia both commented on the fact that it was a very short and uncomplicated induction.  I felt spoiled to have basically gone into labor without...well...laboring (and I was definitely not going to complain about having a baby at a decent hour of the day)!

So just like that, little Ella made her grand debut.  She weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 1/2 in. long ( 'cause people care to know those sorts of details), and she was a "cookie cutter" pattern of the three who came before.  As you can imagine, we are all a little smitten with her!

Here are some pictures from our stay in the hospital:

What girl doesn't love having her weight made publicly known

(or having nude pictures of herself turn up on the Internet)?!

After Ella was slightly "de-gunked" I was given a chance to hold her.

Dad is showing off his newly bathed little girl.  She is

sporting a little red bow that he picked out for her.

Yeah, she's a keeper!

From the very beginning, Ella demonstrated how

much she likes having her hands up by her face.

I will just say now, that the food at UVRMC was absolutely fabulous.  They had a room service program (for Mother/Baby patients only) where you could order whatever you wanted from a menu.  As you can see, I got a little carried away.  There are actually two meals in these photos.  Jason could prepay $7 to receive his own meal of choice. We got a babysitter for the older boys on my last day in the hospital so we could have a lunch date together.

 

There was no shortage of kisses from these three.  They love their little sister!

I got to come home to pink balloons and an "It's a Girl!" sign. 

It's all a little foreign to me, but I think I could get used to it.

This post authored by Amber