Eleanor Josie Miller: A Birth Story

***DISCLAIMER: There will be ONE black & white photo of the placenta, cord & amniotic sac. So, if you're squeamish, be prepared =)***

Let me start off by saying that I am SO EXCITED to finally be documenting Ellie's birth story! She was born Monday, May 27, 2013 at 12:23pm, but my labor with her started Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at about 5:30am. At least that's when I noticed the contractions; Nathan had kissed me goodbye before leaving for work & after that I couldn't go back to sleep because I realized that these contractions were regular! Every 10 minutes & growing little by little in intensity & time. 

I had my weekly OB appointment that afternoon & sure enough, the doctor confirmed my labor & that I was about 3 cm dilated. My contractions were only about 7 minutes apart though, so she said when they reach 5 minutes to head to the hospital. 

About 10pm rolled around & my contractions were every 2-3 minutes apart lasting about  70 seconds so we dropped John off with one of my visiting teachers from church, called the midwife & headed to the hospital. 

When we arrived there, the midwife checked my cervix & apparently it was in an odd place. So she pulled on it, which hurts worse than any contraction I ever had... I'd even go as far to say it hurt worse than a baby's head crowning. Anyway, then I walked around for an hour & still no change in my cervix. I opted to leave the hospital at that point since my water was not broken & I had not made progress. We went back to the hospital every day for the rest of the week so that the midwife, Frau Wagner, could monitor Ellie & check me over. 

I had contractions day in & day out every 5 minutes up until I delivered. 6 days of contractions. Talk about exhaustion! On Friday at my appointment with Frau Wagner, we decided it would be in my best interest to introduce a cervical pill on Monday morning at 8 am because my body was not responding to the contractions. They were strong & consistent but nothing was happening. Well, Saturday & Sunday I was SICK. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, the works. I knew my labor was starting to progress, so, I tried not to mind too much that I felt like utter crap. Sunday night my water broke. That was interesting. My water didn't break on its own with John so I didn't know it had happened until Monday morning. All night Sunday I was up with back labor starting about 10:30pm. Awful back labor; I couldn't even move during a contraction & breathing hurt as well. I kept feeling like I had to go pee but nothing really came out... at least that I could control (that was in actuality, my water leaking). I was in & out of bed all night & finally around 4 am went out to the living room & slept for a bit on the couch. 

When we arrived at the hospital Monday morning, I told Frau Wagner that I was pretty sure my water had broken (I definitely felt quite a bit gush out when I was walking downstairs to the car), so she checked me & sure enough it was broken & I was 4 cm. 

My back labor ended around 7am so I was feeling much better by this point. My cervix was still in a weird position so every cervix check, Frau Wagner would try to pull it down to where it needed to be. 

Right after my first cervix check Monday morning --- also a non stress test

After the first cervix check, I was hooked up to some IV fluids because I was dehydrated. We monitored Ellie & my contractions for about 25 minutes then I walked around for 35 minutes, stopping with every contraction per Frau Wagner's orders, to lean over & sway my hips back & forth. She said the leaning to the front would help to pull my cervix to the front & swaying would help with dilation. Since I was feeling really good, I grabbed my camera & took photos of things I wanted to remember; the room I was in currently & the room with the birthing tub. I figured once I was in the birthing tub room, I probably wouldn't be in the mood to capture its essence. After those 35 minutes of walking, I was checked again & had progressed to 5.5 cm!

Since an hour had passed, I hopped back in bed for some more monitoring. Then instead of walking, I bounced on a labor ball for 45 minutes while Nathan & I watched a movie on his iPad.

This photo made me realize that the contraction monitor had slipped, so it stopped monitoring half way through. Oops.

Bouncing away... Nathan was careful to catch some of my better facial expressions- ha!

After bouncing for 45 minutes, Frau Wagner suggested I move to the tub. I was excited for this part! I wasn't in any pain; the entire time my contractions just felt like strong menstrual cramps (my cramps may be different from others though because of my Endometriosis; I've learned to put up with a lot of discomfort from that over the years!)

Once in the tub, it was time for a cervix check again (ugh). I was 6 cm. I just lounged there & watched the rest of the movie (is it sad that I can't even remember what movie?!) with Nathan. Once in the tub, I hardly even felt the contractions, I actually thought they had stopped, but Frau Wagner hooked me up to the water proof monitors & sure enough, I was still going strong! I couldn't believe it. I really & truly was in labor & had no pain. I just kept thinking back to when I had John. I had an epidural that worked for about 2 hours & I was still in pain. I just kept thinking, "Man, this has to be a dream!" Then I remembered in the Bradley Method birthing book I had read, that many women who practiced the Bradley method of relaxation, described their labors as painless. I didn't understand this when reading because in my labor with John I was tense & stressed the whole time. NOW, I can say I understand. I was calm & totally relaxed while laboring, in a peaceful environment with a wonderful husband cheering me on & a midwife who fully supported my wish for a completely natural labor & delivery. 

My labor was painless.

After being in the tub for close to an hour, Frau Wagner wanted to check me again, I was at 8 cm! I was really surprised. Even in the Bradley book, it was mentioned over & over that 7-10cm is Transition & many women get ill & shaky. I was perfectly fine still. Well, about 10 minutes later, the pressure set in. Oh my. I had forgotten how intense the pressure was! No pain, just intense. I now had to concentrate on breathing regularly.

Frau Wagner suggested this position to help my cervix finish  moving to its proper position.  It did the trick!

Well, in a split second, I started to feel shaky, nauseous & claustrophobic-- which was weird for me because never in my life have I ever felt claustrophobic. I started to get super hot & all I wanted to do was get out of the tub. I said to Nathan & Frau Wagner, "um, I can't do this in the tub anymore. I'm hot & I need out. PLEASE let me go back to the other room with the bed!"

Frau Wagner said she'd check me & if I wasn't 10cm we could go. Luckily I was 9cm. That's all I needed to hear. I was up & out of that tub sooo fast!! Nathan & Frau Wagner barely were able to dry me with a towel (I was completely naked by this point, ha) before I took off down the hall at a brisk waddle to get to that bed!! Yes, I did in fact walk down a hospital hall naked. Oy!

I climbed on the bed & felt so much better. The room was bigger & that trapped feeling was leaving. I was sweating really bad by this point & begged to have a window open. Nathan cracked one open & I started pushing. In just 2 contractions our little Eleanor Josie was born! 

I've never felt such accomplishment as I did then. I had labored for 6 days & gave birth 100% naturally. No induction, no IV meds, and NO epidural. I felt amazing! It was such a high! And, recovery has been a breeze. In fact, when I got home Wednesday night, I cleaned the living room & kitchen lol. 

I absolutely cannot say enough positive things about my labor & delivery experience here in Germany. It was the complete opposite of how things were done with me when I was having John. There weren't a hoard of nurses in the room when it came time to push, the OB wasn't in & out pushing an agenda. The midwife, Frau Wagner, was with us the whole time & that's it. No one else. The OB on call came in after Ellie was born to assess the damage-- which was just some 1st degree tearing, all superficial. I think it took him 10 minutes to sew me up & he was out. I would definitely have another baby over here in a heartbeat!  

So gross, but cool too! I had never seen one before. In the States, they threw it in the trash almost immediately after delivering it. 

3,280 grams = 7lbs 2 oz! She was 20 inches long, too.

Sorry for the awkward crop--- but no one needs to see my naked chest! 

For babies born before their due date, they give a quick bath to get the blood off, but they by law have to leave the vernix on for 24 hours. I thought that was... interesting.

They also don't allow you to use clothes other than what they have at the hospital for your baby, which I find funny. They don't have gowns, so you labor & deliver in your own clothes, but when it comes to your baby, they have it covered.

I took photos from the bed of Nathan & Ellie while I was getting stitched. I had to keep my mind off of what was happening down south!

 

After I was all stitched up, we took some photos, then I climbed into a different bed & the midwife wheeled me to the recovery room. I loved that Ellie had a little crib that wheeled right up to the bed & the side could be lowered all the way down. It made getting her in & out in the middle of the night so easy!

John didn't get to come up to the hospital until Tuesday morning. The family that he stayed with on Monday, took him & their kids to Legoland all day Monday & then had dinner with some friends afterwards. They didn't get home until 10pm or so. I was sooo missing him! This was the first time he had stayed with anyone that wasn't family. But, I knew he was well taken care of & he had a blast with our Bishop's family!

First examination lol He really didn't want anything to do with her & started crying shortly after this was taken.

On Wednesday, a friend of Nathan's from work came up with Nathan & John for lunch & brought a beautiful arrangement of flowers & a gift card. Everyone from Nathan's company chipped in on the flowers & gift card which I thought was so sweet! It really made my day because I was dying to get out of the hospital. I was ready to leave Tuesday.

I wasn't supposed to leave until Thursday for a couple of reasons. At 48 hours old, they have to do blood work on the baby & the hearing test. Ellie wasn't 48 hours old until Wednesday afternoon & they only do these tests in the morning apparently. I was also extremely Anemic still & they wanted to monitor that. Well, over here, unless you pay (50 Euros a night) for a private family recovery room, you share with another women. Frau Wagner made sure no one else got put into the room with me even though we didn't pay for a private room, but she left Wednesday morning after checking on Ellie & me. So, after she left, the nurses started bringing stuff into the room for another woman.

There's only one bathroom in the room. I kind of, REALLY, didn't want to share with someone else. Plus, I started thinking about the fact that there would be two babies in the room. I already have to wake up with my daughter, why should I have to wake up when this other baby cries? That's when I started pushing to get out. I had to be a bully to the nurse, but eventually she agreed to do the hearing test & blood work for Ellie. The OB came for me, they do an ultrasound to make sure your uterus is shrinking & that theres no placenta left over, before discharge from the hospital. We were out before the other lady showed up!

Ellie has been a very laid back, patient, sweet baby. The opposite of John, obviously not the sweet part. John was NOT laid back by any means. He was a colicky, temperamental little thing! Obviously, suffering from Postpartum Anxiety & Depression with him didn't make things easier. This time around, being a mom to a newborn is enjoyable. I'm glad my doctors & I made the choice for me to continue taking Zoloft through out my pregnancy & currently as well. It really is a night & day difference. 

Ellie sleeps 4 hour stretches at night. 

She eats about every 3 hours during the day.

 She passed her birth weight by 2 ounces by 9 days old! 

She's been smiling in her sleep from about 7 days. 

Loves snuggling with her mama!

Hates binkies. 

LOVES napping on her tummy.

Has her awake time for about an hour or two in the morning & an hour or two around dinner time.

love her little wrinkles on her tiny hands!!

We love this little girl & are so glad she's part of our family! I'm planning on doing her official newborn photo shoot tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to get those photos up quicker than I did with all these hospital ones.

***Please visit my photography business blog to see the professional edits of Ellie's birth***