Little Ellie Jane

I would have never guessed this week would be as eventful as it has been. Our little Ellie was born early Tuesday morning and is the sweetest most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us. The delivery threw us some curve balls and there were some scary moments, but we all made it through okay. If you care to keep reading I'll expand the whole 'baby story' but for just the nuts and bolts Ellenore Jane White was born 3:38 am on 1.6.09, 3 lbs 14 oz, 17 1/2 inches.

Monday, I went to work as usual and then to my weekly doctor visit. My doctor (who I love by the way and am so grateful I found an OB as great as her) wanted to do an ultrasound since I was measuring a little small for the second week in a row. The ultrasound showed that she was behind in growth by about 2 weeks and she was showing signs of stress -- thus we needed to deliver our babe that night. I had planned to pack my hospital bag that night anyway, but never would have imagined I would be trying to do that while breathing through a contraction, I would not recommend doing this.

We drove to Meridian, which wasn't the original plan, but since our baby was possibly very small my doctor wanted a NICU readily available. It was a very pretty night with light snow flurries, but the roads were nasty. We got to the hospital and started the prep, laughing and joking with the nurses. Then things changed. My blood pressure was really high and continued to raise. The stuck me on oxygen and I was put on my side and not allowed to move -- no matter how uncomfortable I got. At that point any birth plan I had was thrown out the window and it was all about getting through this ordeal. Tests came back and confirmed that I was in full blown preeclampsia, a very rare (3-5% of pregnancies) but very serious condition that leads to seizures and is very dangerous for mothers and babies. So I spent the next few hours trying to stay calm, not move, and not complain too much (if you ask me I think I was very brave, but you'll have to ask Brian to get whole truth)

After they put me on some blood pressure medication, I started to stabilize, but then there were some scary moments as Ellie's heart rate dipped. I was pretty loopy when Dr. Hughes came in around 3:00 am, but I remember her saying the baby was pretty stressed and we needed to push. Since she was so small, the doctor felt I didn't need to be completely dilated in order to get her out. Things got ready and 3 contractions later Ellie slipped right out, with the cord wrapped around her neck twice. I was relieved to see her pink little body and hear her cry.

Although she made it to 37 weeks and technically full term, her size puts her at 33-35 weeks. She is tiny and has a few issues that come with being so little, but she is a fiesty little thing and is doing really well. We'll get to hang out at the hospital a little longer than expected, but the nurses are great and the food is . . . . well the nurses are great:)