Baby love!!

Elliot Elizabeth is finally here!!! She was born on Wednesday, October 28th, (only 12 days after her due date.) She was 10 lbs, 4 oz and 21 inches long. I cannot believe how big she is!! She doesn't look big to me but maybe that's because it seems like Addysen has grew a foot over night!
This was my first homebirth and boy was it intense!! Addysen was born in the hospital and I was very disappointed with all the 'protocols' that come with that. I cannot imagine a more different birth this time around. So here is the short version of what all happened.

I woke up Tuesday morning with some mild contractions. Since I had been having those for the last month I didn't count them or get excited. Addy and I just hung out all day while Aaron went to school and just tried to stay normal. After Aaron came home, around 4pm I decided to count them. So, Aaron and Addy decided to carve her pumpkin while I wrote down the contractions. I wasn't surprised when they were coming 5-6 minutes apart and I tried really hard not to get excited. We then had supper and eventually Addysen went to bed. After that I called my midwife and let her know what was happening. I was still contracting every 5 minutes and they were actually getting a bit stronger. She told me to call back in an hour and let her know what was going on. Around 930pm I called her back, to my disappointment, letting her know that they had died down a lot and were now coming every 15 minutes. BOOO!!! :( Somehow I think she knew something was going on because she told me she might talk to me again that night...

After I talked to her I decided to take a shower, since throughout the last month showers have really killed them off if it was just prodromal labor. During my shower, I had 4 more contractions!! I was so excited!! They kept coming after that and called my mom to come over to keep me company since Aaron had went to bed. She came over and saw how real they were and had me call my midwife back. She called her assistant and they were both here around 130am. I then called my doula, to let her know that I thought it might be really happening and she came over a bit after 2am. Aaron and my mom had already started filling the birth pool and we all just hung out in those early hours. I took a few showers when I needed to cool off and ate toast and bananas to keep my energy up. Sometime contractions would slow way down and I'd doze off for about 2 minutes, as if my body was giving me a break through all of it. Oh, how I loved those breaks!!

My sister showed up around 6am and stayed the rest of the day. When it started getting light out it really was starting to hit me that, yes, this might really be happening!! I was sure at any minute it was still going to stop, but at 9 I was checked at actually dilated at to 7cm!! woah!!! I couldn't believe I had done that on my own. When I had Addysen I was only dilated to a 4 before I got an epidural so this was way different!! and on my pain scale I still only at a 7. I thought, yeah I can do this!! It's really amazing how different natural contractions are compared to pitocin induced contractions. I just let my body work and moaned a LOT!!! I didn't think I would be so loud!! I had already labored in the pool for a few hours and decided to get back in around 1130 to start pushing...

And I pushed and pushed and pushed. I never felt like the baby had dropped, even when I was pushing... This I realize was because she had no room to!! about an hour later my midwife wanted to check me again and see what the hold up was. I got out of the pool and was checked. I was fully dilated but had a lip that her head couldn't get around. (This was just like Addysen's birth, where I pushed for two hours to get around that!!) So she held it back while I pushed Elliot's head around it. About this time was when my water finally broke and was also when I decided I was done and I couldn't do it anymore. I kept screaming, 'I can't do it!!' and everyone would say, 'but you are doing it!!' I thought I was going to die!! Those last ten minutes before she came out were the most intense minutes of my life. I never thought it was going to end but I just had to get her out...

And then she was here!!! I felt so good immediately that all the pain and everything around me just melted away. She is so amazing and I couldn't get enough of her. This was at 104pm and took place on the floor in my bedroom. We waited until well after the cord was done pulsing before it was cut and my midwife showed me my placenta and all the parts to it. That was just fascinating. It was huge too!!

About an hour after Elliot was born she was weighed. I couldn't believe that's how big she was!! No wonder I was in labor for so long!!

I really cannot explain how happy I am with her birth. There is no way I would have been able to do that in a hospital. I would have had a cesarean for sure. Elliot's shoulders did get a little stuck and she had to get one arm out before she came all the way out. I also gave birth to her on my hands and knees, so yeah, there is no way that all would have worked out anywhere else. I also cannot believe how good I'm feeling. Seriously, I have very little pain at all. My milk is coming in today and Elliot is such a piggy!!! She started nursing about fifteen minutes after she was born and hasn't stopped.

God is soooooooo good!! I am so in love with my family and cannot believe this new chapter has already started in our lives. Addysen is adjusting so well and just loves her little sister. Aaron is also looking quite comfy with his girls and I am loving this life given to me.