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ericalee's Pregnancy
My Due Date: December 1, 2016I have given birth!
Age: 40 years old
Location: Madison, United States
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Ellison Rose Perez is here!
By ericalee » Posted Apr. 23, 2015 10:40am - 938 views - 14 comments
Sorry this has taken so long to get on here! Here's the full birth story!
I went to the hospital at 3pm on Sunday, 4/12, for cervical ripening. They put in the cervadil at 5:30p and I was told that this would likely feel like mild menstrual cramps. HAH. At around 7p I was thrown into contractions every 2 min with continuous back labor. It was awful. I did not sleep at all that evening. At 5am my water broke on its own and at 530a they took out the cervadil only to discover it had done NOTHING. UGGGHHH. They wanted to put in another one but I said I needed a break and got in the tub for about an hour and a half. Since my water had broken they wanted to start me on Pitocin when I got out since I was "on the clock" and had about 24 hours before they start worrying about infection. They checked me again and in an hour and a half I went from 30 to 90% effaced and baby's station went from -2 to 0. Although I didn't dilate this was HUGE progress and they let me labor on my own without meds.
I labored without meds all day, trying various positions and techniques to get things moving, but 3cm was the farthest I dilated. My contractions were every 5 minutes apart, but wouldn't get closer together which is what they said needed to happen for me to dilate. At around 5pm, after 24 hours of labor, they started Pitocin. I was told it was going to remain on the lowest rate to just kickstart things, but compliments of a resident that I wanted to yell at, the rate kept going up. Soon my contractions never seemed to end and I was in IMMENSE pain. At one point I was sitting on a birthing ball with my head buried in the bed sobbing. I asked to go in the tub again to take the edge off, but even the tub couldn't relieve the pain. It was at this point that I knew I had to get an epidural.
When they first put in the epidural my left side didn't really "take" so they moved the thing in my back, but instead of waiting to see if that would do the trick they gave me a bolus of the numbing meds, plus upped the infusion rate. There were 2 anesthisologists on in the L&D and they got their wires crossed and ended up giving me too many meds, which became apparent when I started having difficulty breathing and my hearing was affected on my right side. My blood pressure plummeted and I actually fell to the side in bed because I lost control of my upper body. It was very scary. My OB was NOT happy. They gave me meds to up my BP and shut off the epidural until the level of meds in my system went down. After about 45 min I went back on a really low rate. I just wanted the edge taken off. My husband was so worried and so mad at the same time. He completely shut down.
After we got the epidural working correctly, I just chilled. At 6pm I was 3cm, checked at 9 and I was 6 and they expected me to dilate 1cm per hour from then on. Well, at 11 they checked me and I was at 10cm!! Wooo!!! My doctor was in another delivery so I "labored down" until she got there. Her other delivery ended up having some complications, so she didn't make it to my room until a little after 1am. They got everything prepped, got my husband gowned up since he was going to be delivering the baby and I started pushing at 1:27. They originally told me I could push for 4 hours for a first baby (!!!) but just 22 minutes later (after about 6 pushes) little Ellison Rose made her debut!!
My husband delivered her and got to put her on my chest. It. Was. Amazing. Oh my god. The best moment of my life. Staring at this perfect little baby on my chest, I knew instantly that everything we went through to get to that moment was completely worth it and that I would do it all again.
We are loving every minute with our little girl! I am struggling with a really low milk supply, which has been the hardest thing since birth. We may need to switch to formula if the supplements don't work, as the donor breastmilk will only last so long.
My Journal
Ellison Rose Perez is here!
By ericalee » Posted Apr. 23, 2015 10:40am - 938 views - 14 comments
Sorry this has taken so long to get on here! Here's the full birth story!
I went to the hospital at 3pm on Sunday, 4/12, for cervical ripening. They put in the cervadil at 5:30p and I was told that this would likely feel like mild menstrual cramps. HAH. At around 7p I was thrown into contractions every 2 min with continuous back labor. It was awful. I did not sleep at all that evening. At 5am my water broke on its own and at 530a they took out the cervadil only to discover it had done NOTHING. UGGGHHH. They wanted to put in another one but I said I needed a break and got in the tub for about an hour and a half. Since my water had broken they wanted to start me on Pitocin when I got out since I was "on the clock" and had about 24 hours before they start worrying about infection. They checked me again and in an hour and a half I went from 30 to 90% effaced and baby's station went from -2 to 0. Although I didn't dilate this was HUGE progress and they let me labor on my own without meds.
I labored without meds all day, trying various positions and techniques to get things moving, but 3cm was the farthest I dilated. My contractions were every 5 minutes apart, but wouldn't get closer together which is what they said needed to happen for me to dilate. At around 5pm, after 24 hours of labor, they started Pitocin. I was told it was going to remain on the lowest rate to just kickstart things, but compliments of a resident that I wanted to yell at, the rate kept going up. Soon my contractions never seemed to end and I was in IMMENSE pain. At one point I was sitting on a birthing ball with my head buried in the bed sobbing. I asked to go in the tub again to take the edge off, but even the tub couldn't relieve the pain. It was at this point that I knew I had to get an epidural.
When they first put in the epidural my left side didn't really "take" so they moved the thing in my back, but instead of waiting to see if that would do the trick they gave me a bolus of the numbing meds, plus upped the infusion rate. There were 2 anesthisologists on in the L&D and they got their wires crossed and ended up giving me too many meds, which became apparent when I started having difficulty breathing and my hearing was affected on my right side. My blood pressure plummeted and I actually fell to the side in bed because I lost control of my upper body. It was very scary. My OB was NOT happy. They gave me meds to up my BP and shut off the epidural until the level of meds in my system went down. After about 45 min I went back on a really low rate. I just wanted the edge taken off. My husband was so worried and so mad at the same time. He completely shut down.
After we got the epidural working correctly, I just chilled. At 6pm I was 3cm, checked at 9 and I was 6 and they expected me to dilate 1cm per hour from then on. Well, at 11 they checked me and I was at 10cm!! Wooo!!! My doctor was in another delivery so I "labored down" until she got there. Her other delivery ended up having some complications, so she didn't make it to my room until a little after 1am. They got everything prepped, got my husband gowned up since he was going to be delivering the baby and I started pushing at 1:27. They originally told me I could push for 4 hours for a first baby (!!!) but just 22 minutes later (after about 6 pushes) little Ellison Rose made her debut!!
My husband delivered her and got to put her on my chest. It. Was. Amazing. Oh my god. The best moment of my life. Staring at this perfect little baby on my chest, I knew instantly that everything we went through to get to that moment was completely worth it and that I would do it all again.
We are loving every minute with our little girl! I am struggling with a really low milk supply, which has been the hardest thing since birth. We may need to switch to formula if the supplements don't work, as the donor breastmilk will only last so long.
Comments for this Journal Entry
 | Comment from eat2nourish » Posted May. 19, 2015 5:52pm I'm so very late in reading this, but am so happy for your family! What an amazing birth story!! Glad you and your perfect little girl came out just fine. Thanks for all the inspiration :). |
 | Comment from niknik86 » Posted May. 5, 2015 2:19pm Congratulations! She is beautiful! :) :) |
 | Comment from AshleyLauren » Posted May. 2, 2015 1:51pm Congrats!!! What a crazy yet amazing birth story! My milk supply is less than stellar also. I've been supplementing since we got home from the hospital. 6 months in and we are still breastfeeding (and 8-12oz formula/day. It isn't easy! |
 | Comment from RedBetty » Posted Apr. 27, 2015 8:28am Oh she is soooo adorable. Congrats hun |
| Comment from brittthomp4 » Posted Apr. 25, 2015 3:21pm OH my goodness! Quite the labor but amazing your dh got to be so involved in receiving your baby! How lovely she is! Congrats to you and your family, couldn't be happier for you!!!! |
 | Comment from josamarie » Posted Apr. 24, 2015 11:49pm Oh my gosh, so excited to read this! Ellison is absolutely beautiful, so perfect! Have you looked into possibly finding a more permanent donor if you are still struggling with your supply? I donated directly to a mom I met, and between a couple direct donors we were able to get her bub to nine months on breastmilk only even though she makes almost none herself! I can help try to coordinate if it comes to that! Thinking about you lots, please let us know if you need anything at all! |
 | Comment from Kitten90 » Posted Apr. 24, 2015 7:18am Your milk doesn't actually come in for a few days. Mine came in on the morning of day 5. I supplemented with formula during that time as she literally was attached to me 24/7 and I couldn't sleep. I breastfed and supplemented for about 2.5 months before I just switched her over to formula. If you haven't already, try lactation cookies! =) I've heard rave reviews and I plan on trying them with this one =) |
 | Comment from Starmama14 » Posted Apr. 23, 2015 3:36pm Congrats! I had been following you over on CTP and now over here - I am so thrilled for you! She is BEAUTIFUL! What a blessing! I struggled with low supply (actually no supply for the first week) and eventually I built it back up. I am still BF at 7 months. If you want any advice/suggestions (although you probably are doing everything I did) I am here - just message me. Formula is just fine too though...either way baby Ellison will be happy and healthy :) |
