Meet the Smiths: February 2015

Our beautiful daughter Ellen Lucille Smith made her entrance into the world on Friday, January 23, 2015 she weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and was 21.9 inches long sent straight from heaven at 12:10 P.M. After about 19 long exhausting hours of labor my beautiful baby girl was finally here! I cant even begin to describe the love that filled my heart when i held her for the very first time.

Hello Gorgeous!

The best feeling in the whole wide world!!!

I love this picture of my husband because it showes the Michael I love. This was him holding Ellen for the first time. I feel more in love with him right here!

Id like to share with you a little about my birth experience. I wont go to much into detail. I am mostly writing this for myself and Ellen if she ever asks me one day so I can remember.

The day before Ellen was born I had gone in to do a routine ultrasound because i was four days overdue and the doctor wanted to make sure that everything was still OK for me to continue on in the pregnancy until my scheduled induction which would of been the coming Sunday. When i went in for the ultrasound my amniotic fluid was dangerously low and I was instructed that i needed to go to the hospital to be induced. Ellen was finally on her way!

When i got to the hospital they decided to just start me on a low dose of pictocin in my IV for four hours and then they would up the dose if i didn't go into full labor on my own. After about an hour or so my doctor came in to break my water. Within about 10 minutes I was in full blown " active labor " I was only at a three but the contractions had gotten really strong and intense!! I had planned to go as long as I possibly could without my epidural. But after about a half hour I changed my mind and decided that it was time. There were able to get it for me right away and I became much more comfortable. Which was important for me because I wanted to be able to enjoy the labor and birth experience. At this point things seemed to be moving quite smoothly the only problem we seemed to be having was with every contraction Ellens Heart rate would dip down but then it would come right back up. At that point they decided to put me on some oxygen to see if it helped. As the night progressed it was still happening. So the doctor decided that since we already had low fluid and having my water broken that she needed to get more fluid into Ellen and It should help.

At about 2 in the morning I started to fell allot more pain and pressure in my low back and buttocks area. It literally felt like she was sitting on my bum. It was so painful! The anstegiolost came back about 3 times to try different things on top of my epidural to make me comfortable. In the end the only thing that helped was narcotics that I really did not want but was the only thing that gave me some relief!

I wasn't dilating at all for quite some time and the nurse felt like a C- Section was probably going to be the best option for Ellen and Me both since her heart rate still continued to drop with each contraction. And she was crooked in there as well and not turning I began to cry and pray. I was so scared and so tired. After Praying I just had such a strong sense of peace that everything would be ok. I even began to feel the love of my wonderful grandmother who I new was on her way to the other side. She passed away two days later so there is no doubt in my mind that my best friend was there in my moment of weakness when i needed her strength the most. She was simply testing her beautiful angel wings.

At this point I asked for a blessing from my husband and cousin. Right before they gave me the blessing the doctor came in to check me again to see if anything had changed. And she informed me that everything was beginning to progress as it needed to and I was dilated enough that I could begin Pushing. I was given the blessing and I began pushing at about 11 am. When I started pushing Ellens heart rate dropped down to 70 which was really scary. And I realized how serious it was that we got her out as fast as i could. Her heart rate ended up stabilizing again but I was having a hard time knowing when and how to push since i had so much extra drugs in me to block the pain. It seemed like i was pushing forever. I never knew 10 seconds could last so long! Towards the end I was so physically exhausted and told the doctor that there was no possible way that I could continue to push. At that point she had one of the nurses put my hands down and I was able to feel the top of my sweethearts head. And that was all that I needed to have the strenght for the few last pushes.

At 12:10 P.M She was finnally here! They took her over to the warmer and began doing her test ect. Usually they would of given he right to me but they were concerned because of how her Heart rate kept dropping. But I was able to see her from my bed. I began to sob tears of joy.

When they did Ellen's Apgar test at one minute it was only a 4 and then at 5 min it was an 8.

They told me i could hold her for a few minutes but then they would need to go to the nursery to be put on some oxygen and have some other tests run.

Holding my daughter for the fist time was the most incredible feeling in the whole wide world! I couldn't believe she was actually my baby! Once they took her to the nursery I had mike go with her. Which I did not mind at all because I was so tired I needed to rest.

3 hours later my baby was returned to me as healthy as could be she just needed a little oxygen. I had one tough baby girl!! I am so thankful that she cane into the world safely. I am so proud to be called her mama. Ellen is 4 weeks old today and honestly I cant remember what life was like before she was here. We love her so much and are so blessed to be her parents!