In order to tell the full story of how Clara Elliot came into this world, I need to start about a week before she was born.
Both of the boys were born on their due date, so they had set the bar high. Leading up to her due date, I had been having a fair amount of cramping, so I really thought she would come around her due date. I went in on my due date for a Dr. appointment; they scheduled me to be induced a week later – if she didn’t come before then. At that time, I was really hoping not to be induced.
The day after her due date (Friday) I started the morning out with having some contractions that were about 8-10 min apart so I took the boys to the park hoping the walk would get things progressing if they were for real.
While at the park Isaac jumped from a platform about 3 feet high; this resulted in him breaking his femur (didn’t know this at the time). Thankfully the contractions stopped because we spent the rest of the day first going to urgent care, then the pediatrician and finally at the children’s hospital emergency room with a child who was in agonizing pain. Long story short, it was a stressful couple of days because they weren’t able to cast him till the following Tuesday so they sent him home in a splint which was very painful for him. It was always in the back of my mind that I could go into labor at any point. I tried to rest as much as possible, but every time I would lay down Isaac’s fall would just play over and over in my mind.
Once all of that happened being induced was looking like a good option. The inducement would give us a few days to get adjusted to the cast before we welcomed a baby and it would give me a week to recover before the movers came to move us to Minnesota.
Wednesday night rolled around and we headed to the hospital at about 8:30 p.m. It was a weird feeling going to the hospital to have a baby and not being in labor. Once they got us settled in our room they gave me a pill to soften my cervix overnight and put in an IV with antibiotics (I was group B positive). Before the pill I was dilated 2cm. They said we’d see how quickly I thinned then at 5am they’d start pitocin.
Between everyone needing to come and check on us and the discomfort of the IV we didn’t get much sleep that night.
The nurse came in at 3 am to check me and said they were going to start pitocin which was earlier than I was expecting. Pitocin runs from 1-30 and they only had to give me up to a 2 before my body started to kick in.
I had decided to get an epidural because of everything that had gone on previously with Isaac and the distraction of a pending move. I was mentally exhausted and wasn’t up to laboring through contractions let alone pitocin contractions. I figured there was no point in waiting to get the epidural, so once contractions began to get slightly more intense I asked for the epidural. Inserting the epidural wasn’t half as bad as what I thought it would be. The nurse was really good at keeping me focused. She was such a calm presence through the whole labor…I have a lot of respect for nurses.
Now here is where the fun begins. Seriously, epidurals are the weirdest feeling; everything is numb from the waist down. It’s a very helpless feeling. I was texting and looking at my phone during contractions. There was only a few times I had to stop and breathe through the contractions. I gave myself two epidural boosts from the time it was placed to when I started pushing. Jake was just sitting beside me looking at his phone and casually talking to me; this would have never been the case in my previous labors.
I told the nurse I was feeling some pressure but nothing near being ready to push. She went ahead and got ready to place the catheter and said she couldn’t because Clara’s head was crowning. I was in shock and disbelief that we were already at that point and I had felt barely any pain. I kept saying to Jacob ” this is so weird” and “I kinda feel like I’m cheating this is so easy.”
I literally pushed for three minutes! I’m glad I had the experience of pushing without an epidural because it’s hard to push when you can’t feel anything.
At 5:48 a.m on May 18th Clara Elliot Aase was born weighing 8lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. They laid her right in my arms; I was so glad! They didn’t rush doing any of the exams. The things they did need to check right away they did it while I was still holding her. She wanted to nurse right away; I’ve never had a baby nurse immediately. She nursed for the first hour while they were getting us ready to go to the recovery room.
Once we were moved to the recovery room we spent the rest of the day resting, letting the epidural wear off (it took a really long time till 2 pm for it to wear off), and nursing. Clara was quite fussy if she wasn’t nursing the first day but it helped my milk come in quickly.
Isaac said “she’s a baby!” when he first saw her
Graham just had so many comments about Clara. He was very loving toward her.
The Lord provides exactly what we need at the time and gives us the strength and grace to endure. Being induced, getting an epidural, and having a quick labor was just what we needed at the time.
A few random thoughts I want to remember:
- I was very impressed with the nurses during labor and delivery and recovery. They seemed to be very aware of my wishes and made me feel very cared for.
- I took full advantage of the food service and got a white milk and a chocolate milk with every meal.
- Jake stayed the first night with me then went home with the boys. I enjoyed the quiet of the hospital especially knowing we would go home to a crazy house with one child in a cast and moving the next week.
Going home
We’re so thankful to have our little girl and her brothers adore her. Thankful for our little family.
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