Ashley woke up slightly before 8 am on Sunday morning thinking she had a stomach ache, disappointed because she had been very sick all day Saturday and thought she was feeling better. She was very disappointed that she hadn't gone into labor on Saturday as she and Russell thought would happen. Little did Ashley know that her labor adventure was about to begin. She had a few more waves of light stomach cramps spaced about 15-20 minutes apart and all of a sudden the cramping became very regular, about 5-7 minutes apart and Ashley started to wonder if something was happening after all but didn't want to get too excited just yet. She woke up Russell and told him what was going on and for the next hour or so they laid in bed cuddling with Baloo and Koby keeping track of the cramps (what we now know were contractions). After Ashley texted with her friends and fellow mommies Kathy and Ashleigh to get their advice, she started getting very excited that she actually could be in labor. She decided to get ready for the day in anticipation of possibly going to the hospital within a few hours. Meanwhile, Russell started cleaning the house and made sure the hospital bags and car seat were ready to go in the car. Ashley and Russell stayed very calm but got very excited that they could be meeting their daughter that day! Ashley stayed mobile by walking around the house and doing squats between contractions which were slowly getting closer together and stronger in intensity. She knew it was time to call the doctor when she could no longer walk or talk through contractions. She called Dr. Phelan's on call doctor and was told to head to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to be monitored and verify that she was, in fact, in labor.
We got to the hospital a little after 12 pm and were immediately brought into a delivery room and set up on monitors. Our nurse Kathy was very warm, welcoming, and efficient and before we knew it we were watching Ashley's contractions and little Ellie's heartbeat on the monitors. We were disappointed to hear that our OB-GYN Dr. Phelan wasn't on call that day but heard that Dr. Monica Kasrazedeh was very good. (In fact, later we found out this was the same doctor to deliver Ashley's friend Kathy's baby boy Carson) The contractions were getting stronger and stronger and Ashley was starting to have very bad back labor which meant Russell had to work extra hard with the tennis ball to help relieve some of her pain. Pretty soon Ashley's parents Marshall and Peggy (NamPa and NaMa to Ellie) arrived at the hospital and Peggy immediately jumped in with Russell to help Ashley through her contractions. She held Ashley's hand while Russell worked the magic with the tennis balls and together they did a great job at helping Ashley through the pain. Ashley used a framed ultrasound picture of Ellie as a focal point to get through the contractions while cuddling with a soft pink bunny blanket given to Ellie at one of the baby showers. Once it was (finally) established that Ashley was, in fact, in labor they checked to see how far along she was. Kathy told us Ashley was 3 cm at that point but that Ellie had not dropped yet and that it would be best to wait it out a little longer and perhaps try getting up, walking around, and getting in the shower to progress things along. As much as Ashley despised hearing this and did not want to get up and move around she did as she was told. She sucked it up and braved it out for 20-30 minutes in the shower until she knew she was at the point where she needed the epidural.
Daddy's excited to meet Ellie!!
We can't believe the time has finally come!
So happy that I'm having this baby today!!!
As luck would have it, Ashley knew the anesthesiologist on call that day and he came very quickly to relieve Ashley's pain. Soon after his arrival Ashley was being prepped to have a combo epidural/intrathecal which was previously decided by Ashley and the anesthesiologist in a prior consultation due to her history with back surgery. Ashley had to brave through 3 powerful contractions while holding meticulously still as the doctor set up for the epidural. Almost immediately Ashley felt the sweet relief of numbness from the waist down and from that moment on, she knew she could handle whatever else came her way. She was so relieved to not be in pain anymore she had a newfound spring of energy and warmly welcomed visitors (which she had vehemently prohibited priorly because she was in so much pain). She visited with Russell's parents Ron and Debbie and Ashley's uncle Prescott who had all been patiently waiting in the waiting room once they heard the news of Ashley being in labor. Fairly soon after having the epidural Ashley was checked again by nurse Kathy and was told she was now at 5 cm however Ellie still hadn't dropped. Ashley and Russell were happy that labor had progressed and Ashley was so happy to be in such numbing bliss from the epidural that she was happy no matter what. As long as she could still hear Ellie's heartbeat she knew everything was okay. Meanwhile, Russell was trying his best to keep people informed of what was going on by taking Ashley's dictation and texting people for her. The room had horrible phone service so Ashley couldn't use the phone in her bed and Russell had to sit in just the right position by the window to get enough service to send out text messages. Around 5:00 pm Ashley was checked again and was now at 7 cm and as she was being checked her water broke! But stubborn little Ellie still did not want to move from her comfortable position and drop down. The nurse was hoping now that the water broke that things would continue progressing well. Marshall and Pres went to check on Baloo and Koby and feed them dinner and play with them for a little bit while Peggy kept Russell and Ashley company.
Shortly after 5 :00 pm there was a nursing shift change and our new nurse was Stephanie who is Dr. Phelan's NP that we had just recently met the week prior at Ashley's weekly check up. We were relieved that even though we knew Dr. Phelan wouldn't deliver Ellie that we would at least have a familiar face around and in the end we were so blessed for it to be her. Around 6:00 pm Marshall and Pres left to get themselves and Peggy and Russell some dinner from Chipotle. Shortly after they left Stephanie came in to check on Ashley and told us that she was now 8 cm dilated and that she would more than likely move very quickly from there and would probably have Ellie within the next 2 hours. Ashley was excited and nervous and anxious all at the same time and overall in disbelief with how quickly the events of the day had unfolded. It was then that it really sunk in that she was going to have a baby that night, and that within a few hours she would be holding her daughter. Ashley got nervous that Marshall wouldn't get back in time and that he would miss Ellie being born. (Ironically Marshall ended up attempting to come in the room with everyone's burritos while Ashley was in the middle of pushing so he made it just in time!)
By 8:00 pm Stephanie was back and checked Ashley and told her she was 10 cm and it was time to try pushing. Now Ashley was really anxious and started trembling which made Russell worry but Stephanie reassured us that this was a completely normal part of the labor process as my body was pumped and ready to go.
Stephanie prepped Ashley for what she needed to do to push Ellie out and off they went. For the next 30 minutes, every time Ashley had a contraction she would give 3 powerful pushes while holding her breath and pulling her legs up (which is very hard to do when you're completely numb from the waist down). Russell was an AMAZING labor coach switching frantically between getting Ashley ice water or ice chips to fanning her with a clipboard to giving her the oxygen mask between contractions. Peggy cheered Ashley on with each push and grew more excited by the minute, at awe of the entire process that was unfolding. After about 30 minutes of pushing, Dr. Kasrazedeh came in to see how Ashley was doing with pushing. She was slightly worried about some bleeding Ashley was having but after investigating and discovering that it wasn't coming from the placenta, she let Ashley continue pushing. She said things were going well but she was slightly concerned that Ellie's heart rate was not coming back to baseline after the contractions and said that if she didn't come out soon she might have to use the vacuum. At hearing this, Ashley gathered newfound strength and by the next few pushes, Ellie's head was crowning. Stephanie looked at Ashley and told her that by the next contraction she would have a baby and she was right!! Ellie Lynn was born at 8:26 pm and Ashley and Russell were immediately in love with their brand new baby girl. Ellie was immediately placed on Ashley's chest for skin to skin contact and for the next "golden" hour the brand new Pearsall family of three bonded and reveled over what they had all just experienced.
Immediately after Ellie was born
The first moment Mommy got to hold Ellie and fell in love!
Ellie, Mommy and Daddy
Getting cleaned off
Ellie and Mommy
Ellie and Daddy...love at first sight!
First family photo!!
Such an amazing team!! xoxo
Ellie was not happy when she was being weighed and measured!! :(
Ellie and NaMa and NamPa
Ellie and NamPa
Ellie, Mommy and NaMa
Ellie, Mommy, NaMa and NamPa
Ellie and Gramma
Ellie and Gramps
Ellie, Gramma and Gramps
Ellie, Daddy and great uncle Pres
Ellie and great uncle Pres
Our Labor and Delivery Room #8! Ellie's lucky number!
Ellie getting examined
Ellie getting her first bath by nurse Stephanie
Ellie all bundled up and swaddled for the first night
Daddy and Ellie cuddling the first night
On that night, our lives became complete and for the first time, we were parents and responsible for the life of another person. We are SO lucky and truly blessed by God for giving us this perfect baby girl to love for the rest of our lives.
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