Ellie Elizabeth

She arrived! One day before her due date on May 19th.

I had a hunch that my aminiotic fluid had been leaking for a few days, so I went into the hospital around 4 pm on Tuesday the 18th for the second time to have it checked out. Sure enough, it had broken and I got admitted! They gave me an IV antibiotic right away and started pitocin a few hours later. It was a long labor and I dilated very slowly and my strongest contractions probably didn't start until about 4 am the next morning when I gave in and got an epidural. It was glorious.

Our labor and delivery nurse was incredible. Mary, a Scottish woman in her mid-60s that had been delivering babies for over 40 years. We felt like we were in really good hands and she loved hearing that mom is a nurse, too. I started pushing around one in the afternoon, and really only pushed for about an hour and half. Our doctor, Dr Chan, was working that day, so we were in luck and she was able to deliver our baby.

Ellie ended up making her debut at 3:25 pm and weighed a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz and measured at 20 1/4 inches. She has light brown hair and the perfect complexion. Mom and dad made it to the hospital all the way from Missouri two hours after she was delivered. It was so awesome, and John and I were so glad to see them. We ended up staying in the hospital two nights, and it was extra special as mom stayed with us the second night, so John could get some rest. They stayed until Tuesday and were a huge help. It was very hard to say goodbye and we miss them terribly.

We've been home for almost a week now. Tom, Arleen and Pam have been here the past week. They've cooked us yummy dinners and love holding Ellie and bonding with her.