She's here!!!!

Ellyanna Grace Thompson
born at 2:40pm, 9 May 2009
7 lbs 12 oz, 20 inches

I know this post is long overdue, but as anyone who has had a newborn in the house knows there is very little time in those first few weeks for doing anything besides taking care of the baby. Anyhow...I'm just now getting around to blogging about the birth of our little Ellyanna Grace. She is 17 days old today and just as precious as can be. She arrived on her actual due date which was also my 34th birthday. This will certainly be a birthday to remember....along with my first Mother's Day.

Mom arrived on Thursday, May 7th and had just a couple of days to rest before Ellyanna was born. That evening Sam and I went for a walk and that was the first time I started feeling like I was getting close to giving birth. My back was hurting and I was feeling some contraction pains. We didn't walk for long considering how I was feeling. Saturday morning I had an appointment with Dr. Van de Castel at 8:00. I had been to see her on Friday as well, but I think she knew that I was getting close so she wanted me to come in on Saturday morning too. I was having contractions that morning and they started getting stronger around 7:00 when I was getting ready to leave. By the time we left the house, the contractions were strong enough that I asked Mom to drive to the doctor's office.

Dr. Van de Castel put me on the fetal monitor and could see the steady contractions, but when she examined me she said I was still not starting to dilate. We left there at 9:00 and went home. I was still having lots of contractions and they were starting to slow me down a little bit, but were not unbearable.

Sam had an electrician at the house that day putting in lights on the back patio. Having someone in and out of the house made it hard to relax in the living room, so I was sitting at the dining room table and Mom started timing the contractions. They were around 5 minutes apart, but only lasting 30-40 seconds. I figured I was still in early labor because while the contractions were somewhat painful, it was very manageable. In all the classes we attended throughout the pregnancy we were told to labor at home until the contractions were lasting for 1 minute, were 5 minutes apart and were consistent for 1 hour. It didn't seem like I was to that point, but when I was up moving around I noticed the pain was pretty constant so I laid down on our bed a little after 1:00.

Mom came upstairs to check on me and was just heading back downstairs to get the stopwatch to continue timing the contractions when I felt a pop and my water broke. I jumped up off the bed and called to Mom, but suddenly felt so sick and was in so much pain I went to my knees and was leaning on the couch in our room. It was frightening to be in that much pain so quickly. Mom knew we had to get to the hospital and went to get Sam. They had to help me down the stairs and out to the car. I am such a quiet person, but could not keep quiet with the harder contractions. I was really scared underneath it all because it came on so suddenly. Thinking back on it, I'm convinced that I basically went from early labor directly into transition with no real active labor. I was in so much pain all the way to the hospital and don't have a clear memory of much after my water broke. It was pretty surreal.

We got to the hospital and up to the labor ward and the midwife put me on a fetal monitor. When they did the exam they said I was already dilated to 9 centimeters, which was shocking to me since it had only been about 4 hours since I'd been at Dr. Van de Castel's and she said I was not dilated at all. At that point I started feeling a lot of pressure, so they transferred me to a labor room and within a matter of minutes (it seemed to me) I was pushing her out. It was all so different than I thought it would be and once my water broke everything happened so quickly. At home I was prepared for a long labor and suddenly here I was, just an hour later, at the end of labor pushing this baby out.

I didn't realize it at the time, but when Ellyanna was born she was not breathing and her face was very purple, so they didn't hand her to me or have Sam cut the cord. They took her directly over to the table and began working on her. Soon after I heard her first cries and she started getting pink. It was a much more intense experience than I was prepared for. I knew it would hurt, but was not prepared to go directly from early labor into transition so my body had no time to work up to it. By the time we got to the hospital there was no time for any type of pain relief so I ended up having her completely natural, which is what I originally wanted, but had no idea how painful that would be. If there had been time I'm sure I would have been asking for something.

During birth Ellyanna swallowed some meconium, so the doctors were concerned that she may have breathed it into her lungs as well. We watched her closely for any signs of pneumonia, but thankfully she's been just fine. Also, I'm positive for Strep B, so they usually would have put me on IV antibiotics during labor to prevent the baby from getting infected. They didn't get a chance to though because she came so quickly. We have to watch her closely for her first 3 months in case there are any signs of the Strep B. It's pretty serious if she has it, but it's rare for a baby to be infected by the mother, especially in very quick births, so I'm not too worried even though we'll be watching her.

I had a much different reaction to Ellyanna's birth than I thought I would. During pregnancy when I thought about seeing her for the first time I felt very emotional about it, but when she was born I felt very disconnected. It really bothered me that I didn't have that rush of maternal feeling, but I think I was so emotionally exhausted from the birth experience that I didn't have anything else to give at that point. I'm sure all women feel like their birthing experience was harder than most, but I was not prepared for what I experienced. Even Mom, whose given birth to three, felt it was a very hard birth. When people hear how fast I had her I usually get a comment about how great it is that it was so fast. While I've come to appreciate that it was fast, having her so quickly gave my body no time to adjust to the levels of pain. I was thrust right into transition and pushing the baby out with no real leading up to it. However, it all turned out good. We have a healthy beautiful baby and probably because it was so quick and I had no pain medication I had a very quick recovery. I never felt terribly sore and actually felt pretty good early on. I think my lack of maternal feelings at the delivery were transferred to Sam. It was cute seeing how proud he was of his little girl. I think it kind of took him by surprise how much he loved her at first sight. Throughout the pregnancy he didn't feel the connection that I did with having her inside me, but that changed very quickly once he saw her. He's a very proud daddy.

The German hospitals like to keep new babies and mothers for 5-7 days, but we stayed for 3. We stayed long enough for Ellyanna to have her first pediatric checkup, but I was very ready to get back to my house on Tuesday afternoon. I was glad that Sam was able to stay with me through the nights. It was pretty tough to get any sleep those first few nights (actually...it still is). She is so beautiful though. It's strange to go from just the two of us to having a baby. At times it still feels like a dream or that I'm just taking care of someone elses baby. I'm definitely still adjusting to having my own child. I was so happy that she had lots of dark hair :) Most importantly she is healthy, but there was a part of me that was hoping she would have dark hair. She looks so much like a Hosier baby. Everyone we see says that she looks like Sam and she really does, especially across the eyes, but she looks alot like my baby pictures too. We think we see little dimples on each cheek too. It's so precious when she smiles. I know at this age it's just a reflex, but it's a promise of what's to come.

Granted she is only 17 days old, but we've had a hard time getting her to sleep in her own bed. She is happiest laying on someone's chest (can you blame her?), so for the first 10 days I held her while trying to sleep at night. Around her 11th day Mom started staying up with Ellyanna at night and sleeping in the rocking chair so I could get some solid sleep. You forget how wonderful it is to be able to just go to bed and not have the responsibility of a baby. One night with Mom she actually slept in her crib for 3 hours at a time. That was a real milestone. I had to get up a couple times through the night to feed her, but I was getting a couple hours of solid sleep in between which was a real blessing. The following two nights she was very fussy. I think she was having some tummy problems. I have gas drops that we were giving her, but she just cried non-stop for those two evenings. I'm still getting to know this new little addition and seeing what works with her. Then, last night, was the first night she slept in our room. She was in bed with me more than in the co-sleeper, but we're making strides in the right direction.

It took quite awhile for Ellyanna's umbilical cord to fall off. Last Thursday we were scheduled for newborn photos, but because her umbilical cord was still on and it was a very rainy day the photographer rescheduled us for tomorrow. Finally, last Saturday(23 May) when we went to change her diaper we saw that her umbilical cord had fallen off through the night. It's so nice not having that on her belly anymore. The last couple of days before it came off it was just hanging by a thread and was bleeding a little. It's so nice to just have that sweet little baby belly under her clothes and to not have to be careful of the cord anymore.

There is so much more I could write about our baby girl, but my mind is still a bit of a mush and I can't really put all my thoughts together coherently right now. Even this post took me about a week to get together. I started it when she was 10 days old then kept trying to update it. Today I just decided to get it done, but even that has taken all day. I'll try to start posting more regularly, especially for the grandparents who can't see her everyday. I'm going to quit rambling now and just post some pictures of the last couple weeks with our precious baby girl.

Saturday morning at Dr. Van de Castel's office. I was having contractions here and was on the fetal monitor.

The first time I saw and held Ellyanna - she was just minutes old. My first thought was that she looked like my Grandma Hosier.

Getting to know my little girl. She was still so white from birth and her little hands and feet were so cold.

Sam holding his little girl

Ellyanna all bundled up. We were still in the labor room. She was probably just 30 minutes old in this picture.

It's hard to believe I'd just given birth to this little bundle.

Getting her hair rinsed.

While still in the labor room the midwife weighed and measured Ellyanna

I so wanted to be up and seeing what they were doing with Ellyanna, but it was during that first hour after giving birth and I kept feeling like I was going to pass out, so I had to resign myself to watching from the bed.

In the German hospital they dress them in the hospital clothes. Here she was getting clothes on for the first time.

Getting to know our baby girl

Several hours after birth we were finally in our room

Me with my baby girl

Grandma with her newest grandchild

Grandma and Ellyanna Grace

Since I was giving birth on my actual birthday, Mom and Sam brought the cake and presents to the hospital the following day (Mother's Day) so we could celebrate.

Getting weighed on day two. She dropped to 7lbs 6oz

Daddy and Ellyanna

Our little cherub

Precious!

Getting ready to head home on 12 May 2009

Leaving the hospital on our way home

Finally home! That's when exhaustion hit me.

Sleeping peacefully her first night at home.

Going on our first outing

Getting her hair combed

Sam having some one on one with Ellyanna

So cute!

Ready to head out. First time she was wearing a little dress.

The midwife weighing Ellyanna (23 May). She was up to 8 lbs, 5 oz.

Walking around Feuersee

Enjoying an ice cream cone in downtown Stuttgart.

Getting ready for our first time going to church with Ellyanna (24 May).

These past 2 1/2 weeks have just flown by. It's been so great having Mom here and I'm already dreading the time when she leaves. She's been such a great help, but besides that it's just been nice having her around. I so miss being near my family.

Sam's been able to be off work since Ellyanna was born. Today was his first day back, but it was nice having him around so much. We've been getting to know our little girl and just getting through the days. We're still trying to get her days and nights switched around. Hopefully I can get better at posting updates. Until next time.