The MUCH Anticipated Birth Story

Hello everyone! I apologize for my long absence. I have been kind of busy as of late! I was debating on writing my birth story for all to read because many people probably don't want to know how far my cervix was dilated. So for those of you that are squeamish--stop reading. This really is more for me so I can look back and remember everything.

Ella was due on Monday, December 17th 2012. I baked a cake in her honor and she didn't come to celebrate with us. I was a little frustrated but hopeful that I would have the baby soon. I went to my appointment the next day and got checked to see if I had progressed at all from the previous week (I wasn't even dilated the last time we checked). Thankfully there was quite a bit of progress! I was at a 3 and 70% effaced! I started having regular contractions that day. They were not terribly painful, just annoying. So fast forward to Thursday. I woke up and noticed that I was leaking some fluid. It was not soaking me so I waited it out a little bit. I felt the same discomfort I had felt the last few days and was not overly concerned. Trevor went to play disc golf while I laid on the couch watching lame movies on Netflix.

When Trevor came home from disc golf he asked me how I was feeling and I told him what was going on. He practically INSISTED that I call the doctor to see what she wanted me to do. I was hesitant to call her to tell her that I was leaking fluid because I had already called her two other times thinking my water had broken. I was pretty embarrassed and did not want to make that mistake again. I finally swallowed my pride and called her around 2 pm and told her what was going on. She suggested that if I continued to leak fluid to go into the hospital between 4-6pm.

We took our sweet time getting ready. I took a shower and got ready as though we were going on a date. Maybe I was in denial because I wasn't even nervous.We packed our bags as a precaution but neither of us felt we were having a baby that night. We even planned to go to our favorite pizza place following the quick check at the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at around 6:30. The nurse admitted us to triage and had checked to see if the fluid I was leaking was amniotic fluid. The first test came back negative. I wasn't really surprised and started to imagine the delicious pizza I was about to get my hands on! As a precaution I was hooked up to a non stress test and they monitored me for a little bit before discharging me. I started to leak a little more fluid at that point and my contractions became slightly more intense, but not super painful.

The nurse came back and tested the fluid I was still leaking and it tested positive for amniotic fluid. She checked my cervix and I was still at a 3 but because they suspected I was leaking fluid for over 8 hours she went to go get the doctor who was on call. It was about 7:30 pm when he came and confirmed that they would need to admit me and hook me up to pitocin to get my contractions going. I was pretty disappointed at this point because I did NOT want pitocin. My birth plan was that I would go as far as I could without any medical interventions and then make the decision to get an epidural. I wanted some freedom walking around and using the birthing ball. I even had a play list ready and waiting to help me through labor. Pitocin was not in my plan! I was also bummed because this meant I would not get my pizza. All about priorities right?

After the nurse left to go prepare a bed for me, my contractions really started to kick into gear. I stripped of the fetal monitor and started to wander around the tiny triage room to help ease the discomfort. Trevor was on the phone informing family what was going on. I am pretty sure that I made as many bathroom trips as he did phone calls in that short amount of time. I had become extremely uncomfortable--mind you I was still in triage. Trevor handed the phone to me to talk to my mom and another contraction hit me--I couldn't even talk through it. I handed the phone back to Trevor, bent over with my head on the bed and felt a huge gush. Yep, my water had definitely broken. All of a sudden my contractions became unbearable. The nurse came back and was startled to see me in so much pain. She hurried to go inform the staff in labor and delivery that I was ready to go. At this point it was about 9 pm. She returned and asked if I could walk to the room. I nodded only because the thought of holding still through those contractions was not my idea of pleasant.

The walk to labor and delivery is a little fuzzy for me. I don't even remember how I got there. I do remember dry heaving in the hall way outside of my room. All I could think was "Am I only at a 3? Seriously? What does a 7 feel like?! I'm such a wimp!" As soon as I got into the room Trevor and the nurse helped me change into a new gown (I was soaked). The nurse, Erin, was awesome! She called for the epidural as soon as she saw how awful I was feeling. I remember her asking if I wanted the epidural but I couldn't answer because honestly, I was kind of losing it. Trevor gave an emphatic YES and before I knew it I was in bed getting hooked up to the IV.

The anesthesiologist came in, I signed the consent, and Trevor was dismissed while I got my epidural (hospital policy). I felt so much pressure at this point but had to hold completely still. That was rough. I'm pretty sure I bruised Erin's hand. Again--she was awesome and didn't even make me feel bad for being such a baby. On the bright side, the epidural did not hurt because my contractions hurt more. It took about 20 minutes for the epidural to take effect. Trevor finally joined me again which brought me a ton of relief. As soon as I was calmed down (I was shaking almost uncontrollably previous to the epidural) and the drugs started doing their job the nurse finally checked me. She kind of gasped and looked up at me with wide eyes and asked if I was ready to push. I was kind of confused because 90 minutes ago I was only dilated to a 3. She then told me that I was dilated to a 9 1/2! If I had known that I was going through transition I am pretty sure I would have been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and remain a little more positive during the whole experience. Everyone in the room was surprised, including the doctor! Before I knew it the staff was putting on their gowns and they were talking to me about how to push. I started pushing at around 10 pm. Fortunately the epidural was really light. I was able to move my legs and could feel every contraction so I was leading everyone instead of the other way around. I pushed for about 40 minutes and at 10:44 pm Ella Madeline Tippets was born. They placed her on my chest and I immediately started to cry, as did Trevor. She was the most beautiful baby and I couldn't believe she was ours!

Love her snuggles.

First family picture--swollen is the new skinny. ;)

Love those lips!

Cute little buns.

Love her.

The whole experience was so fast. Writing it all down makes me realize how blessed I was to have a fast and uneventful delivery, even if it wasn't how I pictured it. Despite the pain that I felt it was immediately forgotten when I held Ella in my arms. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet little spirit in our home. She has already taught us so much.

 I am in the process of blogging about my hibernation and how much Ella has changed our lives. Be patient with me--I'm sleepy these days!

40 Weeks and Feelin' Fine

Here I am! I made it to the blessed due date--12/17/12. I can be done now right? In all seriousness it is a blessing that we made it to this point. Both Trevor and I were up to our eye balls in finals--he just finished his 1st semester of second year Podiatry school and I FINALLY GRADUATED!!!

Let's talk about that. I now have a Bachelor's Degree in University Studies with minors in Biology, English, and Marriage and Family studies. So the big question is--what do you do plan on doing with that? Ummm good question. I will let you know when I figure that out. I have all of these grand plans about graduate school but honestly with a husband in graduate school and a baby on the way those plans are not in the forefront of my mind. Which I am TOTALLY fine with. I am going to enjoy not being in school for a while. I am going to enjoy being a stay at home mom. I have been offered some jobs with the school district but at this time those opportunities just don't compare to raising our (hopefully soon) arrival. It has taken me way to long to get this degree but to say that I have it feels pretty good. I feel pretty assured that this is not the end to my educational pursuits and I look forward to learning more and more as I come across new experiences and opportunities.

To celebrate the much anticipated arrival of Baby Ella I decided to make her a birthday cake (from scratch even!). It was delicious and chocolaty and rich. I am speaking about it in past tense because it is pretty much down to the last few pieces. I was HOPING this kid would get the hint and show up for her own birthday cake but she is pretty content to stay inside. I feel great. I think this is the only time in my life I wish I were in intense pain (labor).

So the biggest challenge at this point is overcoming boredom. I am done with school, Trevor is on break, the house is clean, the nursery is ALMOST finished and now we wait. To say that we are impatient is an understatement. We went to the zoo and walked over 2 miles to see if things would start to happen. Nope, but it was nice to enjoy one of the last few days we will have without snow.

Here are a few pictures of me with the elephants. I thought in comparison I would look tiny--false. I look huge but that is okay. My nephew keeps referring to Baby Ella as "baby elephant". It is funny until I think about birthing a baby elephant--haha.

We have an appointment tomorrow to see if Ella is any closer to coming. My mom will fly out in 10 days and  Trevor goes back to school a week after that.

We have felt very blessed. I have had a wonderful pregnancy and have not experienced any complications. I know that right now the world is questioning if there is a God and if he really loves us at all. I know that He is aware of us--even in our darkest moments. My life is not perfect and I do not have a perfect relationship with Him--but that is a further witness to me that we can find hope through the blessings of the gospel. I pray that we may focus on the truly important things this time of year and not get so overwhelmed with the material aspects of the holidays. I hope that we all can find someone that we love to spend this Christmas season with and reflect on the blessings God has given us. That is what we plan on doing here in Cleveland.

Love,
Amy

Photo Op

Trevor loves photography and enjoys playing around with our camera. I love the Fall leaves out here and can't get over how beautiful it gets! We decided to take a few photos to document how gorgeous it is and to show how much weight we have gained. HA! :) Marriage and happiness will do that to you I suppose. Here is a sample of what we took. These were taken at the park across the street from our house. It is GORGEOUS and walking through it makes me forget I live in a city.

Enjoy!

I love this one of Trevor!

Some are not the greatest quality because I just copied them from my Facebook account. I'm feeling lazy!

Babymoon

After I got back from my trip to Oregon I realized that our time as a couple with no kids was quickly flying by. Of all of the advice I was given during this pregnancy the MOST advice applied to spending time with Trevor before the baby came. We dreamed of far off adventures to the Caribbean or a romantic trip to Italy.

Reality check--we live on a graduate students budget! Thankfully we were able to save just enough to travel to upstate New York and enjoy some of the sights. We visited some church history sights in Palmyra and stood in some sacred areas where the restoration of the gospel took place. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad we were able to spend a day there. We didn't get too many pictures but we really enjoyed our time there. We also had the chance to attend the gorgeous Palmyra Temple together.

A photo of the top of Hill Cumorah (I was about 26 weeks prego here)

Outside the home where Joseph Smith grew up

After we saw the sights in Palmyra we swung up to Niagara Falls! I had never been and Trevor had not visited since he was a kid. We stayed on the Canadian side and it was GORGEOUS. I am so glad that we went. We got in Saturday evening, had a yummy meal and walked along the falls that night. It was so nice to not think about school, work, baby planning, etc. 

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Niagara. I just wish we had more together as a couple! 

And of course we went on the Maid of the Mist. So AWESOME and so WET!

We ended our wonderful trip with some of my favorite Canadian treats! Ketchup chips, Cadbury chocolate, and of course Timbits!

I loved spending time with Trevor and I am so glad we took the advice to take a trip together. Our "Babymoon" was just what we needed to prepare for another busy semester!

8 Months Worth of Blogging

So I am not one to blog too much about my pregnancy, or to blog at all for that matter. However, after my doctor's appointment a week or so ago I was faced with the harsh reality that my pregnancy is quickly coming to an end. So I better document SOME of it while I still can!

When we found out we were pregnant Trevor and I were ecstatic! This euphoria was quickly followed by 18 weeks of nausea for me and 18 weeks of "What happened to my wife?" for Trevor. Okay, it wasn't THAT bad but needless to say I was one pukey puppy for a good while. As sick and yucky as I felt I still clung to the fact that I was PREGNANT and that there was a purpose to all of my incessant gagging. I tried not to complain much (for those who I did complain to I apologize) and overall felt very blessed.

Here is one of the first pictures I took of my growing belly. 17 weeks! 

The summer FLEW by and I am still shocked as to where it all went. I was taking classes and decided to work full time to help add to our little nest egg. I supervised a summer day camp from 9-1 and worked at a daycare in the toddler room (7 TWO YEAR OLDS!!!) from 2-6. Was I busy. Um, yes that would be the understatement of the century. Was I grateful to be busy? Come to think of it, YES! Many of my friends I spoke to always talked about how slow their pregnancies passed by. I felt/feel quite the opposite. Where has the time gone?!

Me at 20 Weeks

Baby Ella's 21 Week Photo

By the end of the summer things started to wind down. We found out we were having a baby girl when I was  just over 20 weeks. Trevor and I were both a little surprised--I was beginning to think boy, but in all reality like every other expectant mother I had a 50/50 chance so I just guessed. :) Finding out we were having a girl was so exciting and a little bit emotional for me. It was all starting to set in, but not really.

After my busy summer I went home to visit some family and enjoy a little time with them before I started work and school again in the Fall. While I was at home my mom and sister put together a little shower for me to celebrate our baby girl. It was so much fun to see everyone! When I got back home I definitely looked a little more pregnant.

Me at the Cleveland Indians Game (about 24 weeks)

30 weeks (Worst picture ever but whatever)

I will add some more pictures later. This is a huge post and many of you have probably stopped reading at this point. 

So here we are in mid November. I have 4 weeks left of my undergraduate career and the Holidays are quickly approaching. I also have only 5 more weeks of work left (if Baby Ella decides to come late). I am SUPER excited to be done with both school and work, at least for now.

We had a wonderful time at the shower that the Spanish Branch threw for us. We felt so grateful for all of the love and support that we received. We also had a shower tomorrow thrown by some of the student's wives--who are some of the most giving people I know! I often feel so undeserving of all of the blessings we have been given. I feel so grateful for the people Heavenly Father has placed in my life to help me prepare for motherhood. Being away from my family at this time has been a little bit more difficult than I would like to admit but we are far from short of support and love here in Cleveland.

I am 36 weeks pregnant today and slowly checking off things on my to do list. SLOWLY is the key word. Trevor often finds me on the brink of a panic attack as I keep finding things to add to the dreaded list. Somehow he always manages to calm my nerves and help me tackle the beast! THANK YOU HUSBAND! I couldn't do this without him.

Well, with only 4 weeks to go I hope that I will be able to update everyone a little bit more. At this point I am feeling my energy deplete and my muscles cramp. However, I am healthy and so is Ella so I really don't have anything to complain about. Hopefully I will get a few more entries in before Ella arrives. If not, keep your eye out for some pictures of the most adorable newborn EVER!

Flashback!

This little gem has been shared often but I love it more and more each year. Mostly because I miss my long hair and how young we looked. This was filmed in October 2009 in Jackson Hole, WY and Yellowstone. I thought I would share this to celebrate some very happy times together. Trevor proposed 3 years ago this month. Crazy how quickly time flies and how much can change in such a short amount of time. I'm a little bit thicker through the middle these days (33 weeks pregnant today!) and we are both a little bit wiser. I think. ;) So grateful for the time we have spent together and the lessons we have learned. We have a lot of very exciting things ahead of us. We can't wait to meet our little Ella this December and continue to learn and grow together. Also I apologize for the weird format. I have to get back to doing our homework and don't have time to fiddle with it anymore!

Oh, I'm Sorry...

Am I supposed to be updating this thing? I admire each and everyone one of you that has the motivation to update their blogs. I have thought many times about deleting this entire thing because I simply don't make time for it. Yet, every few  four months or so I decide to give a quick update on our lives here in Ohio.

I will do my best to catch everyone up! This summer was full of working hard and playing hard! I ran a children's day camp at a local park in the mornings and worked at a daycare in the toddler room in the afternoons. This made for one tired pregnant lady. Fortunately I had gotten over my awful nausea and my energy bounced back, only to be sucked out by the horrific humidity at the park. However, I was grateful for the work and we were able to save enough to purchase some of our bigger baby items (crib, stroller, etc.) What did Trevor do those 3 weeks he had no school? He played! Honestly, he was deserving so I didn't mind at all. Trevor has has started a love affair with disc golf. He probably goes at least a few times a week and loves this new past time. I'm glad he found a little outlet for himself--Podiatry school is insane and he works so hard.

We also had some visitors this summer. Trevor's parents and brother Spencer came out to visit us. It was nice to show family where we lived and see the local sights. JD and Amanda (Trev's brother and sister in law) also came for a short weekend. We were glad to have them. Trevor and JD went to Cedar Point while Amanda hung back with me and we indulged on a pedicure and lunch at Panera.

I also had the opportunity to go out and visit my family. Sadly Trevor had to stay behind as school started in early August so I took the chance to visit family and attend a beautiful wedding of a dear friend from high school. It was so fun to see everyone and enjoy my last visit with them before this baby girl arrives. I love my family and am so grateful for their unending support of me.

(Pictures to come)