Eliza Ruth Wood

This is just for my records, and so that I can remember it later. It is a little long, but here it is, only two and a half months later..

Eliza's due date was December 15th.
I felt my first braxton hicks contractions at 35 weeks. I had 3 really strong contractions that happened while I was driving. I had to pull over, and Isaac had to take over. We were on the way to pick up her car seat from Fedex. It had to be shipped, because we were given the wrong one as we checked out at the baby store.
Real contractions started on November 20th at 36 weeks and 3 days. Isaac and I were out Christmas shopping, walking around the mall. We kept having to stop because it was hard for me to breathe and walk at the same time. As soon as we left the mall, the contractions stopped. I had contractions for the next couple of days on and off. At my 37 week checkup, I was dilated to 1-2. After the checkup, Isaac and I went to a movie, The Martian, for Isaac's birthday. I had contractions the entire movie, about every 3 minutes. Of course, as soon as we left after the movie was over, the contractions stopped. The next day, Nov 25, was a rough day full of lots of contractions. It is also Isaac's birthday. We went out to eat at The Bridge for his birthday, and enjoyed our last date night without a baby. The next day was Thanksgiving, and I didn't have any contractions for the next few days. My guess for the baby to arrive was November 29, and the day came and went without a baby. By this point, Isaac and I were ready for baby to arrive. I was mostly just ready to be done having sporadic and ridiculous contractions. They were never super painful, just made it really hard to breathe, and I couldn't do anything else at the time. At my 38 week checkup on December 1, I was dilated to a strong 2 and 50% effaced. We left the doctors office, and I was upset and thinking the baby was never going to come. Isaac kept having to reassure me that all babies come into the world. No woman has ever stayed pregnant. All week I was hurrying to finish up all of my papers, projects, and assignments for my classes in case baby decided to arrive at any minute.
Labor started Friday night, Dec 4th. I didn't know I was in labor, I was convinced it was just like any other time. Contractions were 3-4 minutes apart at around 10 or 11pm. Isaac and I went to bed, he assured me that if they continued I needed to wake him up. They continued for an hour, very consistently. I finally got so uncomfortable that I had to move to the couch so I didn't wake up Isaac. I didn't want to wake him up, go to the hospital and then be sent home. Especially since he had to work at 3am. My lower back was killing me, so I grabbed a rice bag and warmed it up. I eventually got to sleep on the couch after my back was warm enough to not be so painful. When I woke up, my back was still very painful. I warmed up the rice bag again, and tried to relax. I called my mom about 10:30 or 11am. After telling her how I was feeling, she informed me that back pain was her only sign that she was in labor. Isaac had gone back to bed when he got home from work, and after talking to my mom I decided to wake him up and see what he thought. After talking about it, we decided that we would at least go into the hospital. Just to give me peace of mind. If they sent us home, it would be fine. I could at least know where I was at.
We got everything ready to go, and got dressed. We left for the hospital about 12:45pm.

We drove to the hospital, and I was convinced that we were going to get sent home. I wasn't in pain that much. Mostly just uncomfortable, and I could hardly breathe.
Walking into the hospital was the worst. I didn't want Isaac to drop me off, so we parked and walked in together. I pushed the button to be let into the Labor & Delivery hall, and they immediately opened the doors. We walked down the hall and the nurse helped me into a room. She gave me a gown and had me change. She checked me, and then went to get the resident on call. He checked me again, and said I was dilated to 3cm, 80% effaced, and at a 0 station. They decided to admit me. The resident joked that he didn't think I was actually in labor because I was so calm. The nurse, who was my absolute favorite, did all the check-in stuff and then had me walk up and down the hall to progress labor a little. At this point, I hadn't decided if I was going to have an epidural or not. I wanted to wait until I actually felt pain to decide. That happened when I was right in the middle of the hall. I literally didn't want to walk down the rest of the hall. The resident came down and asked if I wanted a wheelchair, and of course I said no. I wasn't about to be a whimp. He asked if I was going to want an epidural, and I said that I for sure was. I got back to the room, and they said the anesthesiologist was in surgery and was going to be another hour. It was 3pm and they checked me again. I was at a 5 and 90% effaced. I was, at this point, actually in pain. It was so much that I was indeed screaming, and the whole floor probably could have heard me. The nurse gave me some sort of pain killer in my IV to take off some of the pain. It didn't seem to help too much, but it did make me very nauseous. It did, however, make the pain bearable. At 4 the anesthesiologist came in and started to get me ready for the epidural. It took what felt like forever for it to happen. But once I had the epidural, I felt great. The only downside to the epidural was that it slowed the whole process down. Had I not decided on the epidural, Eliza would have made her entrance two hours earlier. I was able to get some sleep after the epidural, and just relax. They checked me at 6 and I hadn't progressed at all. They asked if I wanted Pitocin, or if I just wanted it to take its course. I decided to take Pit, and the contractions picked up like crazy. I was checked at 6:40, and was dilated to a 7. Then again at 7:30, I was at an 8. At that point, my water still had not broken. They said that I could have them break my water, and that would probably make me progress really quickly. My family was at Red Lobster eating dinner, and waiting for me to progress more. I wanted to wait for them to be back before the baby came, so I told them I wanted to wait a little while. At about 8pm, they broke my water. I progressed to a 10 by about 8:15. Right at that time, Isaac called my mom to see how close they were. They were pulling into the parking lot, and everyone was running to the elevator. Jared, my sister's boyfriend, and my dad were running the fastest. Which is funny because neither one of them were going to be in the room. Jared waited in the waiting room(because he was sick). My dad and sister waited out in the hall. My mom and Isaac both stood by me. Since nobody knew if the baby was a girl or boy, everyone that walked in the room the entire day made a guess, and there was a tally on the board. I pushed only a few times, and only for 19 minutes before Eliza came. It also helped that I threw up a few times while I was pushing. I was shocked that a little girl came out at 8:43pm, since I was convinced that I was carrying a little boy! Isaac cut the cord, meanwhile I was in total awe of the fact that sweet baby was mine. I kept saying to the doctor that that baby was mine, almost asking if I was dreaming or if everything had just happened. They let me hold my sweet girl for a few minutes before they took her to get measured. The nursery nurse then took her to measure and clean her up. She was COVERED in white vernix. So much so that you couldn't see any color! My mom and Isaac went over with her to get cleaned up and measured, she was 6lbs 1oz and 19 inches long. My dad was anxious and telling everyone that he was ready to come in and see her! The resident and doctor stitched me up, I only had 2 first degree tears. The nurse and resident both told me that I needed to have lots of babies because of how quick the whole process was.
We still hadn't decided on a name. We knew what we were going to name the baby if it was going to be a boy, but we had a couple different options if it was going to be a girl. Isaac came over after a little while and said she looked like an Eliza. I definitely agreed. Our little Eliza Ruth was screaming, and oh so wonderful. She was given the middle name Ruth after Isaac's maternal grandmother. Once we were both cleaned up, they brought her over and I attempting nursing. I quickly learned how ferocious of a little human she is. She nursed very well, and liked to bite! It was almost as if she was born with teeth! After I nursed her, my dad and sister were able to come in and hold sweet little girl.
Once everyone got a chance to hold her, they left for home. Eliza had to go to the nursery, to get all checked out, and I hung out for a little while and waited for my epidural to wear off while I ate applesauce and drank juice.
At about 11:45pm or so, the nurse came in and helped me use the bathroom and then wheeled me down to my postpartum room. Isaac then went with Eliza to get her first bath. After what seemed like forever, they came back and I got to hold my little girl again. The time I waited while they were both gone felt like 5 hours, although I think it was maybe an hour and a half. The entire first night, I think I slept maybe an hour. I didn't want to sleep, and I couldn't sleep. I just wanted to hold her and watch her sleep the entire time.
We had our friend Breanna stop by Sunday morning, and my sister Lindsey and Jared stopped by as well. Isaac's two older sisters, Anika and Karlee, and their families come and visit on Sunday afternoon, as well as my parents. We could have been discharged Sunday evening, but we decided to stay an extra night. There was a postpartum nurse and a nursery nurse that we had at all times. The only nurses that I didn't like the entire time I was there, were the ones that just so happened to be the two the discharged us. The nursery nurse that we had the second night, was AMAZING! She held Eliza all night in the nursery, so that she wouldn't be fussy, and so that I could get some sleep. She brought her in to me every 2.5-3 hours so that she could eat, and then would take her back to the nursery and hold her. She was the sweetest lady! However, the nurse right after her was the worst. She brought Eliza in every 25 minutes telling me that she was hungry because she kept chewing on her hands. When in all reality, Eliza is just really fond of her hands. She was born with two round marks on each wrist where the skin was rubbed raw from her chewing on them in the womb. Anyways, so I would try and feed her, and she wouldn't eat, because she wasn't hungry. At the same time I had that nursery nurse, the postpartum nurse that I had kept wanting to chat with me all the time. She would come in to take vitals, and would stay and chat for a half an hour! I was trying to sleep for peetsake! The two of them were bound and determined to not let me sleep! I did LOVE the rest of the nurses that we had. Eliza's going home weight was 5lbs 10oz.

I'm very glad that my doctor, Dr. Kim Cox, was able to be there to deliver Eliza. Since it was a Saturday, it was whoever was on call that was supposed to deliver her. He just so happened to be there when I was walking the hall and said for the nurse to call him when I was getting closer, and he would come back and deliver the baby. I loved the atmosphere of the hospital, and most of the staff, they were wonderful. I really hope that the rest of my babies delivery experiences are somewhat similar to Eliza's!
I loved not finding out the gender for my first baby. I think it made the whole delivery experience such a fun one! I was worried about having an epidural, because I don't do well with any kind of pain medication. It was a great experience though, and I wouldn't change getting one. My legs were tingly the entire time, and I didn't have any feeling, but I still had enough movement. There really aren't too many things I would change about the whole of it.
These are pictures that were taken the day we went home by someone who goes around to all the rooms at the hospital.