Ella Nicole Mecham was born on Friday, April 24, 2015 at 8:49 am. Just like her big brother Boston, she was born on her due date. I couldn't believe that not one but both of my kids were born on their due dates and how similar the labor experience was. You can read Boston's birth story here.
As I was nearing the end of my pregnancy with Ella I was starting to get stressed with work and school. I was in my final semester of my bachelor's degree and with Ella's due date being exactly two weeks after my graduation, I was hoping to be able to graduate and finish finals before she came. She was a good girl and stayed in there until her due date.
I actually thought she would be born after her due date because there was no indication of her coming. I had occasional Braxton Hicks contractions but they were not too serious, I had no pain or discomfort but just continued getting ready for her arrival. This included nesting. And lots of it! I was organizing and cleaning and decorating! (I was in the middle of changing Boston's room from a boy color palette, to more of a gender neutral scheme) Keeping busy was definitely better than just sitting around waiting to go into labor. However, what was different this time around was I was not anxious to have a baby, I just wanted to keep cleaning and organizing; I don't know if the nesting affect was delayed by me being in school so I didn't feel like it was time to have a baby yet, but I was perfectly content staying pregnant for even another week or so, (I don't know how many pregnant people can say that, I feel like most of the time they get so anxious and excited to meet their baby, and I was but not so much as with Boston)
Lucky for me, my mother-in-law and Blake's grandma came up to Rexburg a few days before my due date to help out and be there to watch Boston when I went into labor. They arrived on a Tuesday and we had a great time just visiting and spending time together. I was so grateful that Blake's mom was able to be there to help, my family was leaving to Europe on Ella's due date for a study abroad my dad was helping to teach. Even though I wish they could have been there to see Ella once she was born, everything worked out.
On the eve of my due date, we had Blake's mom and grandma over to visit and went out to eat for dinner! That was so nice to not have to cook! We had a long day and so we ended the night around nine o'clock. I was tired and ready to go to bed so I was not too sad about ending the night a little early. However, I won't forget what Blake said that night to his mom as they were leaving. We were saying our goodbyes and that we would see them the next day. We were joking that maybe I would see them sooner if I had the baby, and Blake said, "Oh I am sure the baby will be born tomorrow." I almost took that as a challenge as I thought, "yeah right, I doubt it" and asked him if he would help me with some thing in the morning I wanted to finish that I didn't that night. As he agreed, we got ready for bed to go to sleep.
As we were watching our show, as we do every night - it has become part of our nightly routine, I got thinking about how at this far along with Boston's pregnancy I was only a few hours away from starting contractions and going into labor. I chuckled to myself and mentioned it to Blake, thinking well that isn't going to happen. I assumed I would be able to go to sleep and wake up and go to my doctor's appointment in the morning just as scheduled. There was no way both of my kids would be born on their due date, boy was I wrong!
Promptly at 12:30 am as I had gotten maybe an hour of sleep I felt almost a strong cramp in my lower stomach. It woke me up and I decided to wait a little bit to see if another one would come. About ten minutes later, same thing. I couldn't believe that I was getting contractions, I waited through an hour of this just to make sure they were progressing, and it was. That is when I woke up Blake to let him know I had been having contractions and that I was timing them. However they were staying around 10-13 sometimes even 20 minutes apart. They didn't get too regular but were getting stronger. I ended up "sleeping" more like laying on the floor to get a comfy spot as my phone charged so I could time the contractions.
As Blake continued to try to get some sleep I continued to deal with the contractions. As I had learned from my first labor experience, it is best to just breathe through the contractions. I even counted to ten over and over again until the contraction was over to help focus on something other than the pain. When ever I would give in and scream or exclaim in pain it just made the pain worse. So I just wanted to breathe and knew that in 45-60 seconds the pain would be over and I would be okay.
At this point it was about 3:30 am I remember having to go to the bathroom and having a few BMs to clear my system out in preparation for birth. I also took a warm bath because the pain was getting stronger and it felt nice to clean myself because I was sure I was going to go to the hospital soon.
I was still timing my contractions and they had dropped down to about 7-10 minutes apart now, but not that 5 minute mark where I knew I could get to the hospital and be admitted and not have to go home. I knew that I wanted to be far enough dilated that I would be able to be admitted. I said a little prayer hoping that the contractions would start getting closer so I could go to the hospital. And after that they did, the started consistently getting closer. I knew that we needed to call my mother-in-law to come over to watch Boston, so we could leave. From earlier in the week I knew that from the point we called her to the point she would be at our apartment would take half an hour (as she was staying at Blake's aunt's home in Rigby about 15 minutes away). I made a note to myself after my prayer that if the contractions starting to get closer that we needed to call her. So when that happened we made the call and got our things ready to go to the hospital. It was now 4:30 am and we were just waiting for Blake's mom to arrive so we could make our way to the hospital. At 5:00 am on the dot she arrived. I was so happy because I was in pain and just wanted that epidural! The contractions were getting stronger and more frequent so I was ready to be done with this pain.
We arrived at the hospital, thankfully only a short five minute drive away. It was nice to know more of what to expect this time around as Boston was born in the same hospital 20 months earlier. Since it was five o'clock in the morning, there was nobody there. It was actually really nice to not have to deal with any people and have all the focus on me and making me get comfortable. As we passed the doors and were checked in, I need to undress and get into the hospital gown so I could have my cervix checked to see how much I had dilated and hopefully be admitted.
I was sure hoping that I would be able to be admitted and get ready to have Ella, because if I was not far enough dilated and in this much pain I was going to cry. I was still trying to breathe through the contractions and the nurses praised me for how well I was doing.
Once I got checked I was thinking, "Please let me be dilated far enough along, please, please, please!" The nurse checked and honestly it did not hurt at all to have her check, as apposed to the uncomfortable feeling it usually was when my doctor checked at my previous appointments. So I figured I had progressed from the two centimeters dilated because of the ease the nurse had and no pain that I had while being checked. The nurse said plainly as if no big deal, "Yeah your about a 7-8." I put my hand on my forehead and just said, "Oh my goodness".
I had no idea I was so far along, with Boston I got admitted and was a six and thought that was far. This point I was so close to being at the point to push. I didn't know that if I reached a nine I would not be able to get an epidural. When the nurse told me this I started to cry. I had not mentally prepared to give birth naturally, nor did I want to. I wanted to get into the delivery room and get that epidural!
I know the paperwork is just protocol and necessary for the birth process, but I couldn't help but think if I would be able to get the epidural in time. The staff was nice and called the anesthesiologist right away so I could get it before it was too late, but I was still nervous and scared that I would not have an epidural to get through this labor. I assumed it would take about an hour to finally get because that is what happened with Boston, but luckily for me I had it all put in and done in half and hour! I was so grateful it happened in time and I was slowly starting to feel less and less pain.
I could finally get some sleep even with all the needles and monitors on me and baby, I was able to doze off and get about an hour to an hour and a half of sleep which helped because I was so tired from not getting much sleep before my contractions started. It took some time because I was shaking, from getting the epidural. It happened when I had Boston as well but wasn't too bad to deal with.
Having nurses coming to check on me every so often didn't let me get much rest but woke me up enough to notice that my left side upper leg and pelvic area could still feel some pressure. It was more uncomfortable than I wanted to have so I let the nurses know and I was able to get more of the epidural in me and helped me to feel numb there and okay to proceed with giving birth.
I remember checking the clock to see what time it was, seeing that it was almost 8:19 am (the time Boston was born) I just thought well it will probably be another hour or so until the baby is born since I pushed for about 45 minutes with Boston. My doctor still wanted to wait a little longer before we started to push so I was just laying in the bed waiting to push. Blake was keeping all of our family up to date on the status and was being so great at getting me things I needed. Having him there to be my support and someone to talk to helps to be able to go through one of the hardest but most rewarding parts of my life.
My doctor came back in the room around 8:30 or so and said that it was time to push. As we waited for a contraction to come I was preparing to push. Since I had done this before I knew more of what I needed to do. I could feel the contraction coming even though I had the epidural, because of that pressure on my left side, it was not unbearable but I was able to tell that I was having one. So with the help of the doctor and nurses to tell me when to push and how long, I pushed.
I think I had pushed a few times with the contractions. And then the contractions would not come. I just laid there all exposed as we waited for a contraction, we probably waited about 5-6 minutes and one came. Then waited again, and repeat. Because my contractions were taking forever to come it was decided that on the next one I would just push and keep pushing. So I did, and I could feel her head coming out. Blake mentioned that he could see the dark brown hair, and a lot of it. The next push and "whoosh" It was almost like a flush and relief I could feel as her body came out and she was born. It was 8:49 am when she was born and I couldn't believe how quickly it happen. I only had to push for about twenty minutes this time and she was born.
Just seconds after she was born I heard a nurse say, "It's a girl!" And a wave of relief flowed over me. At my 20 week appointment when we were trying to find out if Ella was going to be a boy or girl, we had some difficult so when the technician said she was 95 percent sure it was a girl I was still worried that maybe the baby was a boy because we never really got a good look. And to top it off when I was about 31 or 32 weeks along I had a dream that I had the baby and it was a boy, so I was doubtful that she would be a girl!
I had always wanted to have a girl so with the possibility of not, especially after I had already bought some things and we had settled on a name I was scared that maybe I wouldn't be able to dress her up cute with headbands and use the name I had fallen in love with. And who knows if I would ever have a girl later on! But those three words brought me so much relief! I had my little Ella and I was able to hold her!
She was so bright-eyed and awake, just taking in everything around her. She didn't really cry and was pretty content. I couldn't hold back the tears as I finally had my baby girl. I didn't even care that I was delivering the placenta as I got to hold her. She was mine and I was so lucky to have her. Blake was able to cut the umbilical cord and get his special little moment as it is something most dads are able to do.
After just a few minutes of holding her, and being told I did not need stitches as I didn't rip or tear at all. I let her go to be weighed and measured and cleaned off for her first bath. She was 7 pounds 10 ounces, exactly the same weight as Boston was when he was born. She was 19.5 inches long and had a head full of hair. She looks a lot like her brother Boston and even has her dad's bent pinkies.
We quickly FaceTimed my family as they were just about to leave for the airport for the seven week trip to Europe. I was thankful that we were at least able to talk them before they left on airplane. It was nice to be able to show Ella off to them over FaceTime but not as good as if they were there, but it made up for not being able to talk to them at all.
After her bath I was given Ella who was all cleaned off with a pretty pink bow in her hair. The nurses encouraged me to try to breastfeed her. As I did, she latched on immediately! I was so happy she did not have a hard time with it, as Boston did. It made the experience go much smoother. I had fed her for probably about half an hour and even ordered my breakfast as it was morning time and I was starving! To be honest, I was actually really excited to choose the food because the hospital food is SO good!
After I had my breakfast, I was able to hand Blake Ella, for some father-daughter bonding time as I went to go take a shower. It felt so good to get cleaned off and have the hot water pouring all over me. I did feel a bit lightheaded, probably from blood loss, but was able to hold onto the bars in the shower for support. I got into some new clothes, another hospital gown, and was wheeled over to my new room where I would stay for the next couple of days.
Ella was just so sleepy and slept much of the day, which I didn't complain as I wanted to get some rest myself. Not much longer after I had gotten situated in my new room, did what looked like a nurse came into my room. This person actually turned out to be a student in a massage therapy school here in Rexburg. She offered me a massage, and I did not decline that offer! I was able to get an awesome back massage and almost fell asleep. I felt so pampered and relaxed, as I didn't get this treatment when I had Boston. It was a new thing that the hospital had teamed up with the school, and it was great!
Not much longer after I was done with my massage, did Blake's mom, grandma, and Boston come to meet Ella. They loved her and were so excited to finally be able to meet her. Boston on the other hand was not too interested in Ella for more than a few seconds. We were able to get a few pictures as a family a four now but Boston just wanted to explore the hospital. Not much else happened for the rest of the day, just some visiting and caring for Ella. The rest of Blake's family came up from Utah to see her, but didn't arrive until later that evening. So I had a lot of time to rest and just enjoy some one-on-one time with Ella.
Once the rest of the family made it up that evening, they were able to meet Ella and all of Blake's sisters sure loved little Ella. They commented on how little she was and how cute! I myself forget how small a newborn is and Boston seemed huge compared to her.
Seeing Ella in her carseat really made me realized how small she was! But I love this stage and it goes by so fast! I love my little Ella Bella and I am so happy she is apart of our family! It is hard to imagine life without her now, and I wouldn't want to!
