As I start to type, it occurs to me that a year ago, at this very moment (12:07am), I was fast asleep on the futon, with a plastic nap under the sheet, in case my water broke. I'd just been induced that morning with the assurance from my OB that my baby girl would take at least 48 hours to show up. I'd been having what I thought were Braxton Hicks that evening after I had spent the day at the beach with my girlfriend Mireille. I was crampy but I was feeling fine.
NOT!!!
My water broke at 12:20 am (thanks to all the good advice I got from friends for saving my futon!), and soon, the whirlwind started: call daddy to be who was still in Whistler celebrating a friend's wedding (thank goodness for voicemail and text messaging!), call the doula to say "what do I do?", call the hospital to see if I should come in, grab my bag and drive myself to BC Women's Hospital (the Oak/Broadway street contraction is the only one I remember...). Park the car, make my way in to assessment room, meet my doula there (1am), double over while daddy to be finally calls to say he's on his way and then all I remember is my doula showing me how to push away the pain; how I am in pain; how much I want drugs, and how much it hurts so I end up actually puking a couple of times from the pain! (at 1:38am with contractions every 3 minutes) What a mom won't do for her girl :)
By 3:10am: 100% effaced and baby's head is ready to come out. Nurse Rose has been great. And soon Nurse Kelsey takes over. But not without the supervision of our doula Jacquie. By 3:35am, daddy to be finally shows up... I am too much in pain to actually yell at him for not being here sooner. It's time for the epidural, thank you very much! (4am).
It won't be long before I actually realize that everything I've planned is going out the window. The computer with my push, relax and "ye, she is coming and is here"music mix is at home and not in the car where it was before my doc told me I had at least 48 hours... The camcorder, the battery candle that looks so real, the camera... all in the car... But in the midst of it all, I managed to exclaim "I'm a supestar!!!" (note that the "r" is missing for a reason - great drugs!)
By 5am, I've convinced Chris to get the camera, and as Dr. Kenyon comes it's finally time to push. It seemed to be many pushes but according to Doula Jacquie's notes, 3-4 pushes was all it took. I'm told it was all very smooth.
At 5:47am, Ella Jacqueline Dupont Bedassie came into this world. What a precious little girl. Our miracle!
She's put on my tummy and quickly, Chris cuts the cord, the doc takes her away to do their stuff for a few minutes, then she's back with me and Chris when she just grabs on to his fingers. It was the first of so many moments where our darling little Ella grabs on to her dad. A moment we managed to immortalize in so many pictures and with a LifeCast statue.
I apparently said "I can't believe it was that easy!". And I remember saying to the staff and our doula who wanted to know her name that Ella was "named for one of the most famous jazz singer: Ella Fitzgerald".
Ella Dupont Jacqueline Bedassie weighs 5 lbs 7 oz, measures 18.9 inches and sports a full head of dark hair, just as I did when I was born. What a wonderful start for yor precious life!
After all the excitement, dad set up his cot and quickly passed out, snoring as if he'd done all the work! And mom concentrates on breastfeeding little Ella. By mid-morning, we were transferred to Balsam where our first nurse Chris would take such special care of the 3 of us. He turned out to be our nurse for 3 out of the 5 days we spent at Women's Hospital.
There will be many more tales to come as I journey the first days, weeks and months of our life with Ella. But in the meantime, allow me to say:
"Happy Birthday my darling Ella. Maman and Daddy love you to infinity and beyond, forever and always!"
Maman
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