Ella Margaret Skocelas

Meet the newest member of our Skocelai tribe.  Ella Margaret arrived at 4:12am on Wednesday morning.  Our biggest baby so far, weighing in at 9 pounds and 3 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches long.  Incubating for 40 weeks and 5 days will do that to a baby!  Her birth story is the most interesting one so far, but also the shortest.  On Tuesday I had a normal, post-due date doctor's appointment.  Normal, except for the first time in this pregnancy, when I was checked I was actually dilated... to 4cm!  Wahoo!  I was whisked away in office to a non-stress test to see if there was a pattern to the contractions I was obviously not feeling.  It was being determined whether or not I was going to get to go home. 

After my doc saw that there was no pattern, he sent me home with the following, "I predict you'll be back here in 12 to 24 hours."  That was at noon.  I headed to my friend's house to pick up my kids, grabbing lunch for us on the way.  We hung out for a bit and I began to notice that I felt a little different.  I brought my kids home, leaving Ethan with Eric who had worked a half day, and took the big girl out for a date.  There is just something about that girl that I wanted to enjoy by myself one last time before life gets kind of cranked up.  I'm so glad I did. 

She and I ran to Walmart to get some batteries for the camera (so glad I checked that morning!)
and then went home for supper, which the daddy had prepared.  We ate, played, put babies down and I began to feel really restless and energetic - if that makes any sense.  At about 9pm, my friend Aimee dropped by with my cell phone I had left at her house.  While she was there I started having some mild contractions, but enough that she totally noticed me trying to non-chalantly time them.  She asked if we wanted her to stay, but knowing that the contractions could be irregular for a while, we sent her home.  She was not gone 30 minutes before we realized we were going to have to call her back.  I frantically dusted the house knowing it would be a while before it got done again, took a shower, painted my toe nails, and settled on the couch to time contractions again.  At 10:30pm, they started coming every 7 minutes, so at 11:30pm we called the doctor.

I was told to wait until the contractions were painful enough to need pain meds.  At this point my contractions were uncomfortable, but not painful.  However, within 10 minutes of hanging up with the doctor, they were very painful.... and two minutes apart.  We called Aimee and got very nervous because the contractions were really ramping up fast.  Although she got here very fast, I had started to get nervous that we wouldn't make it.  We blew past her almost as soon as her feet were inside the door, and headed to the hospital. 

We made it there by 1am, hitting every green light on our way (praise God!).  I got ushered to a room, and checked and we discovered I was only at 5 cm.  This seemed so strange to me because my contractions were the most intense I've ever had.  At 2am we were finally done with all the initial blood work and admission stuff and I was finally allowed to have some Nubane.  Very shortly after that, I got my epidural.  That process was over at 2:30am, but I immediately could tell it wasn't working like the other 2 I had with my previous deliveries.  I nervously told the nurse that I was still in a lot of pain on my right side, kind of like someone had drawn a line done the middle of my body.  She informed me that I was wrong, I was just feeling pressure.  I let her believe that for about 10 minutes, trying to talk myself into believing it too, before I told her I could tell her how many contractions I had felt in the last 10 minutes and that my pain level on my right side was the same as it had been before the epidural.

That finally got her attention.  In the next hour, I was given two more boosts and another bolus of the anesthesia, none of which worked on my right side.  I could tell that what needed to happen was that it needed to be re-done.  But, by this time, it was 3:45am and I was fully dilated.  The nurse asked me to give a practice push and then she called the doctor in saying, "This one means business."  Well, duh.  I wasn't there for a tea party.  Three hours after we walked in the door we had our little girl, right at 4:12am.  There was a bit of drama initially because the cord was around her neck and she was born so fast that she was in a bit of shock and had to be resuscitated.  She pinked up after a minute or two and has been doing great ever sense.

So there you have it.  The story of the birth of Ella Margaret Skocelas!