All Things Ashley Marie: Our Birth Story: Eleanor Grace Newton

I can't believe I am finally able to type this blog post. I knew motherhood would be hard, but wow - I might have still underestimated how much little free time I would have. Between working from home full time and simultaneously caring for Eleanor, and keeping up with household duties, I rarely have time to myself. Like I said, I knew it would be hard, but I was beginning to think I'd never have time to write a blog post again lol. Anyway, as I'm starting this blog post, Eleanor is a little over three months old. When will this be shared? No idea - I doubt I'll even knock this blog post out during this nap.

(It took a week, over the course of three naps lol)

Currently, it is Saturday, April 1. Michael is holding Eleanor while she naps, and I decided I might as well take advantage of the time I do have.

Motherhood has been a learning journey to say the least, and I have many things I plan to share in regards to motherhood and what I've learned so far, but I think it makes the most sense to start with our birth story as it's the real beginning of our life with our daughter. I also want to get this down before the memories get foggy :)

During my pregnancy, my OB detected that I had high amniotic fluid. When she initially noticed it, it wasn't too high but she wanted to continue to monitor it on a weekly basis. Unfortunately for me, it only continued to get higher as the pregnancy went on, so she decided it was a good idea to schedule an induction at 39 weeks due to some of the risks that can happen from having high amniotic fluid. This definitely was the last thing that I wanted so I was really hoping for a natural delivery before induction day arrived. As crazy as it sounds, I really wanted to attempt no epidural, but from what I had read from other birth stories, being induced can cause the contractions to feel more intense, so I knew that I may have a harder time not getting one.

Unfortunately, I did not go into labor naturally. Sure enough, I made it to the induction date (which was scheduled for 39 weeks and 4 days, I think). We were initially supposed to get to the hospital around 7pm, but it was pushed twice due to other mothers delivering at our hospital. We ended up getting checked into our room at 11pm that night. When they checked me, I was still only 1 centimeter dilated, which was the same as I was two weeks prior. I was bummed! As I had not dilated further, they inserted cervidil to help move things along. They give the cervidil 12 hours to work before trying anything else. It gave me contractions but they weren't painful. What was painful was the bed! It was absolutely terrible. I did not sleep at all that night.

The following morning, my OB arrived and checked me. Unfortunately, it did not dilate me any further, but it did get me further effaced. My OB gave me the option of breaking my water or starting me on pitocin. I was trying to avoid pitocin from what I read about it, so I opted to have her break my water. My OB was entirely right about me having high fluid - it was a huge gush and honestly, continuously gushed for the rest of my labor. It was pretty annoying! Poor Michael had to continue cleaning it up as I changed positions during contractions. After breaking my water, my contractions intensified, and that eventually got me to three centimeters. However, as I still wasn't progressing very fast, they later started me on pitocin, and that intensified the contractions even more, and that eventually got me to five centimeters. At this point, we were well into the next day, and I was so exhausted. I had barely slept and clearly, was in pain LOL. I decided to get the epirudal and once I did, it definitely helped me get some rest. I could still feel the contractions, but it was more pressure than pain. This eventually got me to 6.5 centimeters. After this though, I got a fever and threw up. When my OB broke my water, she noticed Eleanor had pooped. She wasn’t overly concerned at the time, but after I got sick, it was confirmed that had given me an infection and I stopped progressing. The doctors gave me antibiotics to try and lower the fever and treat the infection. Within a couple hours, this did help the fever go down, but when they checked me again, I had started to go backwards, I moved down to 6 centimeters. It was at this time my OB decided a c-section was needed for both my safety and Eleanor's, as she likely ingested some of the poop in the amniotic fluid.

Honestly, I was really disappointed by this. I wanted to experience a natural delivery, and having Eleanor immediately placed on my chest after birth. Of course, we did what was best for us though! They got me ready, and took me back to the OR. Michael was able to sit next to me so I could see him and he could see me which I was really thankful for.

Then on Thursday, December 23, 2022 at 5:03am, Eleanor Grace Newton was born. Eleanor weighed six pounds and fifteen ounces, and was twenty inches long. When I heard her cry for the first time, I immediately cried. You wait so long to hear that and it's the best sound in the world (then lol). They lowered the curtain so we could see her for a minute, then they took her to the other side of the room to clean her up. Michael was able to be next to her for this. At this time, they confirmed she ingested a lot of the amniotic fluid, so it was good we proceeded with the c-section when we did. It took a few days of us having to remove excess fluid from her mouth before this completely resolved - it was actually very scary because she would stop breathing. We had several scary moments like this for awhile - glad we're finally past that now.

Anyway, after they cleaned her up, he was able to hold her next to me for a few minutes. Those few minutes were indescribable. Watching the love of your life hold your first born for the first time is so surreal. Then as they had to finish up with me, Michael took Eleanor back to the room. This was the hardest part for me - being away from them and not immediately getting to hold her, but once I was back in the room, she was placed on my chest to have skin to skin, and latch for the first time. Best moment of my life by far.

We're over three months in now, and some of this is a blur at this point, so I'm glad it'll have a permanent spot on the blog. I still can't believe I'm a mom. It's hard. Honestly, even harder than I imagined, but it is SO worth it. She's the best thing to ever happen to us.