It's Baby Time

She's here! She came 2 weeks early but she arrived healthy and happy! Scarlett Jolene Ehlers was born on Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 11:59 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long. She has chubby cheeks and a small bit of dark hair and she is the sweetest baby girl in the whole world! Here's the story:
On Friday the 17th I started having a headache around 7pm that was unlike any other headache I've had before. I thought it could just be because I missed dinner so I ate and went to bed but it never went away and kept me up most of the night. At 7am on Saturday morning I decided to go downstairs and use Jamie's blood pressure cuff to check my blood pressure. It turned out to be pretty high. I decided to keep track of it during the day and call my doctor if it got out of control. So I checked it every hour or so throughout the day and it went down to a normal-ish level so I wasn't concerned. My headache dissipated and I thought all was well. Around 9pm on Saturday night my headache got worse again and my blood pressure spiked again and held steady at a very high number. So around 10pm I called my on-call doctor from my office and she said to go to the hospital. After talking to Jamie and JD about it, Rob and I decided that we'd probably just get some medication and sent home so we didn't need to bring anything to the hospital. I asked Rob if I should pack a bag or anything and he said no. So we left our bed unmade, the laundry out, and the light on in our room and headed to the hospital.
We got to the hospital around 11:15pm on Saturday night and from that time until about 3am I was checked in and monitored for blood pressure. They did blood work and a urine test and found no protein in my urine and all normal levels of whatever it was they were looking for in my blood. But my blood pressure stayed high so at 3am the doctor came in. He said that he spoke with my on-call doctor again and told her the situation and she said that it's baby time. I couldn't believe it! I was so nervous when I heard that that I literally started shaking uncontrollably from head to toe for a good 10 minutes. I'd never been so nervous and anxious in my life!
So they moved me upstairs and admitted me and started to induce me at 5am Sunday morning. I was already dialated 1 cm and it took me from 5am-2pm on Sunday to get to 3cm. I had serious doubts all day long that this baby was going to be born regularly. I felt for sure that she would have to be a c-section. I started contracting on my own around 9am but my contraction monitor was broken so my nurses and doctor didn't realize that I was contracting for several hours. That was uncomfortable to say the least but still manageable. My doctor thought that too for a long time. Finally at 2pm I was dialated to a 4 and they broke my water and gave me pitocin. I got an epidural at 4pm and stayed at 4 cm until almost 9pm when I finally transitioned into what they call "active labor" which means that I was dialated to a 6. My epidural was amazing and after the anesthesiologist gave me a second dose of drugs to numb the "hot spot" that hadn't numbed, I was feeling nothing! It was amazing! Finally at 11:30pm my nurse came in to check me and I was just as shocked as she when she said that she could feel the baby's head and that I was ready to go! At this point I began shaking uncontrollably once again and I didn't stop shaking until I started my first push. I was so nervous! I did one practice push with her and then she went to get my doctor.
It took several minutes at this point to wake up Rob and get him to come over to me so he could be there for the birth of the baby. :) I asked the nurse if she thought the baby would come before midnight since Rob and I had a bet about when she'd be born. The nurse was doubtful but Scarlett must've been rooting for me to win because she came out in 15 mintues! I started pushing around 11:40pm and 5 contractions later, she was out!
It was a surreal experience to have her come out of me. I couldn't see her come out so when I felt her come out I just held my breath and waited to hear her cry. It honestly seemed like she took a full minute to breathe but Rob assures me it was almost right away. Hearing her cry was such a relief and one of the best sounds I've heard!
Here is her first picture! (Well, once they'd cleaned her off)

And here is my first picture with her. They let me hold her right when she came out but this was the first time I'd held her for several minutes. It was wonderful just to look at her and talk to her! My first impression when I saw her was that she just looked like herself. I didn't have an expectation of who she would look like but I didn't picture her looking like she does. I did love to see her chubby cheeks and my first notice was that her eyes were almond like mind.

Her whole little self came out in one push so she tore me up pretty bad. It took my doctor plus two residents, 2 assistants, and a nurse a whole hour and a half to stitch me up. I was so tired! Luckily my epidural was amazing so I didn't have to go into the operating room, which is what they normally do with tears like mine. I was very blessed. And my doctors did a wonderful job! Although I was a little sore and will be for a few weeks, I am recovering very well!
Around 2 am, when I was finally done being stitched, and Scarlett finally fell asleep after looking around for 45 minutes, Rob went and got me some food. I hadn't eaten since my dinner of pancakes on Saturday night and I was starving! A Wawa sub sandwich has never tasted better!
Scarlett spent her first night by me in the labor/delivery room. We were moved upstairs to recovery the next day after the doctor had removed some of the packing they'd inserted to help me heal. That whole first day Scarlett just slept. She didn't even eat for the first 24 hours of her life because she was so tired and she had a tummy full of mucus. Ew. On Monday night she had her first visitors when Jamie and Loni and Karen Slaugh all came to see her! She was on her best behavior and the consensus was that she looked like Rob except for her eyes which are almond shaped like mine. We sent Scarlett to the nursery Monday night and while I was so glad to get some good rest, I missed her the whole night and I swear she got bigger during those 6 hours.


We got to come home on Tuesday afternoon which was a relief since I wasn't really sleeping at the hospital. They tell you that you should sleep while the baby is sleeping but then they send in someone to your room every 15 minutes to check on you or do this or that so I don't know how they expect you to sleep.
Rob's mom changed her flight plans and came out on Tuesday night to stay with us for two weeks. She has been wonderful and Rob and JD have never eaten so well during their marriages as these last few days when she has been making meals! She is a wonderful grandma and I am so glad that she got to come be here to see Scarlett!
I am recovering well and after a few frustrating days Scarlett learned how to nurse which has made our lives much easier! She also is getting on a bit more of a schedule which is making our nights better as well. She definitely got over not being hungry and is now chowing down more milk than I think any baby should consume. But she is healthy and a very happy little girl! I can't believe how lucky I am to have her and I love her so much!
This entire experience has been incredible and I am aware of all the blessings that we had during the whole thing. I am so grateful for our perfect little girl and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life as her mama!