Elsie Celine Houghton

FINALLY had one second to type this up. It's been almost four months and I'm not even working anymore... I thought I would have had some time by now... but nope! This isn't quite as fresh in my mind now... but here goes, Elsie's birth story:

Short Version: Water broke at 6 Thursday morning, went to the hospital at 8... stopped by my office and chatted for a little while and then got checked in. Got the epidural around 10 and then around 2:45 the nurse checked me and I was at a 6. The nurse had just left the room for MAYBE a minute when I made Casey go get her again. I apologized to the nurse feeling bad she had JUST checked me, but I felt like there was a head in between my legs. If I was wrong and this was a false alarm, I promised not to bug her again. She lifted up the blanket and said "you will have a baby within 10 minutes". Two pushes later, Elsie was born :).

Longer Version:

So Easton was two weeks early and I kinda had it in my head that Elsie would be also. When I went in to my 37 week check up I was barely dilated to a 1 and still high. Then when I went in to my 38 week check we were trying to decide if Casey could go on his family's summer camping trip (I was definitely not going). I told the doctor that I really wanted Casey to be able to go, but obviously wanted him there for the birth of his kid. The nurse checked me and without hesitating said "he's not going". I was dilated to a 3 and fully effaced ( if I remember correctly, crazy how we forget) and since I had progressed that much in a week, there was no telling what would happen. So Casey did not go on his trip, so of coarse Elsie did not come all weekend. Then Tuesday night I was having contractions. I started having contractions when I was like 5 months pregnant... but these were starting to hurt more and more and so I started to time them and I was 3 minutes apart at least. They weren't super painful... but they were consistent. So I went to labor and delivery. By the time we got there the contractions had slowed down... but that's what happened with Easton when he was born. I know they say that if you lay down and your contractions stay strong, then you are probably in labor. Well with Easton and again this Tuesday night, when I got up the contractions got weaker but when I layed down they got stronger. Anyways, after about 2 hours at labor and delivery they sent me home.

Wednesday I was VERY discouraged. Super embarrassed for the false alarm and pretty upset that I was still pregnant. My mother-in-law took me to get a pedicure which was really awesome, then I fell asleep at 7 PM!

Then we were supposed to get up and go to Salt Lake for Casey's best friend's wedding... so of coarse that's exactly when my water broke. BEST FEELING EVER (I was so nervous to know when to go based on contractions). I wasn't having any contractions and kinda felt super lame going to the hospital pain-free when two nights before I was totally in pain. So we called my mom and asked her if she could drive down from South Jordan to watch Easton.  I felt totally fine so we kinda took our time... I took a shower, cleaned my house a little bit, put on the same outfit I was wearing when my water broke this Easton just for kicks and kinda had a nice morning. After my mom got to my house, we headed to the hospital and I stopped by office for a little while and chatted with Sandra... and took a pose in front of the elevators I had walked by for 9 months in anticipation for it to be my turn to ride.

So I checked in to labor and delivery at about 8:30 am. I think I was at a 4 when they checked me first. Then at around 10 or 11 I got my epidural. Apparently epidurals make me puke, but this time it wasn't half as bad as with Easton... it came and went pretty quickly. I was actually chatting with the anesthesiologist... I used to work with him and Casey and I have played hockey with him and his family a few times. Then it was hanging out time.. which isn't so bad if I wasn't shaking uncontrollably (worst part!!). I even worked on my computer a little bit, started to catch up on some of my shows. I was in the middle of the bachelor when the nurse came in to check me and I was at a 6.

 She had time to wash her hands and go out of our room to the desk... still within eyesight when I told Casey to go get her. When she walked back in she looked kinda bugged (and rightfully so) with the "I seriously JUST checked you". . I told her that I was really sorry and if what I was feeling was just normal labor pressure that I would not bother her again, but I wanted just to make sure cause it felt like something was in between my legs! So she left up blanket and with a super surprised look on her face said "Oh, you will have a baby in less than 10 minutes". Then all HECK broke loose. They were kinda going crazy and a bunch more people came in the room... then the doctor. While they were running around we had just enough time to take these "we are about to have another baby" pictures:

 The rest happened so fast. I put my legs on the stir ups... the doctor asked me if I wanted an episiotomy but I don't think she heard me say yes because she asked me to push... I pushed twice, and our little princess was born.

 The nurses told us that she actually broke record for UVRMC... she was the first girl born after 17 boys... the longest streak of boys they have seen. My hospital stay with Elsie was SO SO SO much better than with Easton. The nurses were much better and nicer. I feel like with Easton I had 1 good nurse the whole time I was there... with Elsie it was just 1 bad nurse. We did have a scary minute where she was choking and turned pretty blue. We called the nurse in and she got the mucous out, and took Elsie to the nursery. She got her stomach pumped and apparently had a TON of mucousy stuff... somethings that's really common was babies are born fast. 

We struggled a bit to get her nursing but it was so much better with her than Easton. However still, the next couple days were the very hardest in my entire life. More to come on my next post as soon as I get time :)