The Etherington Family: Eloise

This is Eloise when she was 2 months old.

This is when she was 5 days old. She is such a cuddle bug.

Eloise's due date was January 10, 2009. When she was 3 days over due, I was so uncomfortable and determined to have a baby. I went on 2 long walks; each walk was about 1 hour long. I felt contractions while walking, but as soon as I stopped walking they subsided. I remember wanting the contractions to be painful. I was done with Braxton Hicks contractions and was ready for the real ones.

That evening Nick and I went to dinner at Simply Thai with my mom and Richard. During dinner I began having contractions (it must have been the yellow curry). We went home and watched "Scrubs" and I continued having contractions. I didn't know if I was really in labor or if it was wishful thinking. Nick and I went to bed, but I didn't sleep at all because I was having contractions every 10 minutes. I watched the clock for several hours until the contractions were stronger and more frequent (about 5 minutes apart). It was about 3 AM when I woke Nick up. We both showered and headed for the hospital. On our way to the hospital, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up some treats. Unfortunately, ice chips were my treats until after the delivery.

We arrived at the hospital around 4:30 AM and I was dialated only 2 cm. Although I was having strong contractions 5 minutes apart, my labor progressed slowly. I was dialated 4cm for several hours. Nick and I walked the halls, I bounced on the birthing ball, and we watched the monitor in preparation for each contraction. Dr. Nielson broke my water to try speed things up, but when the nurse checked me 3 hours later, I was still 4 cm so they started ptocin. Two hours later I was still 4 cm. They increased the ptocin. Two hours later I was still 4 cm. At that point I opted to have the epidural and increase the ptocin. I was ready to have a baby. The epidural made me very shaky and nauseated for about an hour, but then I felt relief. Nick was so wonderful to comfort me and be there for me. Once everything settled down, Nick and I both crashed. We were exhausted. Three hours later, I was dialated 10 cm. It was time to push and I had no energy. Fortunately, Eloise popped out after 4 pushes.

For the first hour after giving birth, Nick and I had bonding time with Eloise. The doctor placed her on my chest and she looked up at both of us as we talked to her. I was able to feed her before the nurse took her to the nursery. Nick then gave her her first bath.