And Then There Were Four.....

Finally, finally! We arrived at the hospital at 6AM this morning for my induction. They started me on the (dreaded) pitocin drip around 8AM. The OB on-call checked me and I was still dilated to a 2-3. (He arrived before my midwife.) The contractions kept steady with what they had been all night until around noon. They were consistent and noticeable, but very manageable at that point. The midwife checked me at that point and I was still only a "3", so she broke my water to get things moving a little quicker. Within an hour the contractions became very painful. They started out still allowing me to breathe through them in a somewhat controlled fashion, but around 1:30 or 2PM, everything started to become very painful and very out-of-control (for me). Luckily the midwife came in just after 2:00 and saw a few contractions for herself (I was feeling a lot of pressure at this point - like I might want to push). She decided to have me get back on the bed so she could check my progress. I have never been so happy to hear the number "9" before! The following two contractions were even more intense (I was still on pitocin, which was not helping my pain at all.), and I definitely felt the urge to push by then. The midwife told me if I wanted to on the next one, go ahead and try to bear down. I did and I told her it felt like the baby was coming out. The midwife looked and sure enough, she could see the head crowning. The next few contractions were excruciating, but I remembered with Eli that it had to get worse before it could get better so I kept pushing as much as I could. Thankfully I only had to push for ten minutes before my beautiful baby girl arrived (au natural except for the ever-painful pitocin). Once again the midwife and the doula (Elizabeth) were instrumental in helping me get through it all. Lehr was the biggest help of all though; he obviously learned a great deal from last time and he anticipated any pain or need I had - Thank God for him!!

So to sum up: Maddux Nicole Eliason made her way into our family at 2:44PM on July 3, 2007, weighing 6lb.13oz and measured 19 1/4 inches long. Her feet are straight as can be and she scored 9/9 on her apgar 'test'. I don't see any resemblance to Lehr or myself, but I think she is the spitting image of Eli, especially when he was younger. Eli still isn't so sure about her, but hopefully he'll warm up once she comes home and Mommy is home with him. (I'm still in the hospital, but pictures will, of course, follow when we return home.)

Many people have asked what our name would have been for a boy: Bode James Eliason. We still really like that name as it's one we decided on months ago, so we're keeping it in our back pocket. But I'm not AT ALL ready to talk about having another baby quite yet.