It went on like this for most of the evening until around eleven o'clock when the contractions actually started to progressively get closer and closer. Over the course of an hour they went from ten minutes apart to five minutes apart. Then in a matter of minutes they were coming every two minutes. We decided to call the doctor and go to the hospital. Since it was after hours we had to call the on-call operator for the OB office and he told us he would send the message on to the on-call doctor and then the doctor would contact us. Well, it took three calls to the operator and over an hour before we finally were able to talk to the doctor. In that time my contractions had slowed down considerably and were once again only coming about every 8-10 minutes. After talking to the doctor we went to the hospital.
While walking into the hospital and up to the exam room the contractions came about three minutes apart and then I was on the bed being hooked up to the monitors and contractions slowed down once again. When they examined me I was at 4 cm and 80% effaced. Even with that and how strong my contractions were, I'm sure that my nurses didn't actually believe me that I was in labor because the contractions were so far apart. However, when they came back to check me a little later I had progressed a half centimeter, which was still progress. The nurse asked if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital or go home to rest. I told her I thought I should probably stay because once my body reaches that 4 cm point I progress to the 10 cm mark within a few short hours. By the time I was admitted to the hospital and moved to the labor and delivery room it was about 4 o'clock in the morning.
For the next two to three hours Tim and I slept as much as possible. Since the contractions were so far apart I was actually getting quite a bit of sleep. I would only wake up a bit when the contraction would start and then go right back to sleep when it ended. Tim would wake up too because I would be squeezing his hand as I breathed through the contraction. I decided to still go completely natural with this birth as I had with the other two. There was definitely pain during contractions but since they weren't too close together I was managing the pain even better than I had with the labor of either Arthur or Camilla.
At about 6:30 my nurse came in to check my cervix again and by that point it was somewhere between 6 and 7 cm. I was definitely still progressing. If I hadn't slept for those two or so hours and had been walking instead I might have been closer to delivering but I was so grateful for that sleep. I was even more grateful for it when I didn't get a nap for the rest of that day. The nurse let me know at that point that the doctor would be in within the next hour to check me as well and to break my water if I would like. I was excited by that thought because I knew that with my past experience that my water breaking usually meant a baby being born within ten minutes or so.
So the doctor arrived a little while later and I was at 7 cm. Then for the next 20 minutes she kept trying to break my water. Fluid kept coming out but there was never much. At first she thought Eliza's head was blocking all of the amniotic fluid from gushing out but then determined the bag was still intact. It took a good four or five times with the hook before the water finally fully broke. At 8:10 the doctor said she would just be out in the hallway and to call if I needed anything but she felt sure that we would have a baby within another half hour or so. (Her prediction wasn't far off as Eliza was born 45 minutes later at 8:55 am.)
After she left the room the contractions finally started to pick up again and increased a lot more in strength and intensity. At about 8:30 I was uncomfortable enough I needed to stand up in order to deal better with the pain and I figured that standing would help with getting Eliza to finally drop as she was still up high. It definitely did that as within only a few more contractions the pressure was much stronger and the urge to push was so overwhelming. That was when we called the doctor back in and they got everything set up. I started pushing just a couple of minutes before she was born and once again it only took a contraction and a half and a few pushes before she was out; just one push and she was crowning.
We named her Eliza Ann after quite a few wonderful women. Eliza comes from two of my great-great-grandma's and Tim's great-great-grandma. Ann is my mom's middle name and also comes from my mom's mom, Grandma Annie. Eliza was 7 lbs 8 oz, which is exactly one pound more than Arthur and Camilla weighed. I wasn't expecting that at all. I figured she wouldn't weigh any more than 7 pounds. At her two week appointment she had not only regained her birth weight but actually exceeded that by half a pound. She is now 8 pounds and growing more each day. In the hospital they told us she was 20 inches long but at her newborn appointment two days later she was measured at 19 inches. I even had the nurse double check to make sure and she was definitely only 19 inches in length.
The entire labor and delivery went so perfectly and Eliza even came out really pink. That was actually one of the first things the doctor said after Eliza was born. I am honestly so incredibly grateful for how smoothly everything went with this baby's birth. I know that the Lord was with me throughout it all and that He gave me the strength I needed. I bounced back really quickly and recovery has been very smooth. I hardly even notice that I gave birth only two and a half weeks ago. The only issue we had was that Eliza also had jaundice. Her numbers were never as high as Camilla's but she still was on the bili blanket for five days. Eliza still has a little bit of yellow in her cheeks and nose but other than that is doing well.
This picture was taken only a half hour before Eliza was born.
Finally in my arms! I was so happy to have her here!
Tim was even more excited than I was, I think, to have Eliza finally here. She already has him wrapped around her finger.
Arthur and Camilla having their first look of Eliza. They were in awe of her. Both adore their baby sister and are so wonderful at helping me out with taking care of Eliza.
Camilla couldn't stop giving her kisses.
Eliza meeting Grandpa Keith.
With Grandpa Keith and Grandma Cathy.
Our little family...Arthur wasn't in the mood for sitting still and Camilla still couldn't keep her eyes (or hands) off of Eliza.
Only about two hours old and she already found her thumb.
All set to go home!
Her first time outside! Luckily it was a warmer day when we left the hospital.
Eliza was only home for a minute before Arthur was asking to hold her. Since then he spends half his day asking to hold her, burp her, or kiss her. He is always telling me when she is hungry, wet, stinky, or tired. Amazingly Arthur will always calm right down from any meltdown if we put Eliza in his arms or next to him.
Here are a few pictures of Eliza that I took on Sunday at two weeks old. She is already smiling a ton!
