Ellie Faith's Birth Story Part 2

One thing I forgot to mention in the first part of her birth story is that Ellie had been "upside down" for most of the pregnancy. When I went for my 36 week appointment Doctor C said she had finally turned around. I wanted to believe him, but everything felt the same for me and I had never really felt her turn around.

During my appointment, Doctor B said that everything looked great, but that he thought she was "upside down" Duh...I knew that all along! He went to get the ultrasound machine. I wasn't too nervous, but I did start to think about everything I had heard about doctors trying to turn the baby and that didn't sound too fun. He came back with the ultrasound machine and before he started I asked if I had made any progress (the week before Doctor C hadn't told me if I had made any progress). He smiled at me and told me "Yes..you are almost 4 centimeters and you are in labor". Well, that is when I freaked a little. He did the ultrasound and sure enough Ellie was breach. Not only was she breach, but she was something called "frank breach" which means that her bottom was down and her legs/feet where up by her ears. Doctor B told me that he needed to consult with his colleagues since they sometimes had different opinions. When he walked out the room I looked at my mom and she was grinning from ear to ear. I'm glad she was excited because I was in total shock. To be honest, I didn't really have time to get too nervous. Doctor B came back in a minute later singing "She's having a baby...TODAY!"

From there, things started to move really fast. I asked if I could go home to get some things and he said no way. We headed downstairs as I called Josh and all the family. Josh was giddy on the phone and didn't sound at all nervous. I remember looking at my watch in the elevator and it was 12:30. I called my boss to tell her that I would not be returning to school that day.

We got to the emergency room and they started prepping me for surgery. I was not nervous about having a C-section. In fact, I was totally calm...so weird. I know this sounds crazy, but I really felt my grandmother's presence. I had just said goodbye to her the day before and now we would be saying hello to our little girl. To top it off, the 15th was my Aunt Mary Pat's birthday. I just knew that everything was going to be okay. The funny thing is that Doctor C was the doctor on call. When he came in I reminded him that he had told me that I wouldn't be having a baby this week! We both laughed and I felt really good about him delivering Ellie.

Josh arrived in plenty of time along with the rest of my family. They wheeled me to the operating room and I felt like I had my own cheering section. The surgery went awesome...the spinal didn't hurt and I didn't feel a thing...not even pressure. I was talking and joking with the doctors the entire time. At 1:54 Ellison Faith Worthy was born weighing 6 pounds and 2 ounces and 19 and a quarter inches long. She didn't cry at first and I got a little nervous. Then the doctor informed me that babies only cry like that in the movies! Ha! Her legs looked so funny because they were flat out like she was doing the splits! All the doctors reassured me that they would be fine.

I was taken to recovery while Josh went with Ellie to get cleaned up. Two hours later I finally got to hold my baby girl. It was love at first sight and my life hasn't been the same since!

Now for some pictures...

Josh being his crazy self...I wouldn't have wanted anything else!

Crazy Legs!

Everyone says she looks like me as a baby in this picture

Meeting Ellie Faith for the first time

Love at first sight!

So even though her birthday came as a complete surprise to us, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

Ellie Faith's Birth Story Part 1

Before I tell Ellie's birth story, I need to set the stage because her early birthday came as a big shock!

Less than a week before Ellie came, we found out that my grandmother would probably not make it through the weekend. Even though my family knew this day was coming, it was still very difficult. The selfish part of me wanted her to hold on just a little longer so that she could meet Ellie. I had just gone to the doctor for my 36 week appointment (December 8th) and Doctor C informed me that she would not be coming anytime soon. I was bummed, but at the same time I wasn't ready yet. I still had so much to at home to get ready for her and I was not finished getting everything ready for my substitute at school.

That Saturday, December 11th, my grandmother went to be with Jesus. We spent the weekend with family. I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, but I didn't really think anything of it. The funeral was Tuesday the 14th. While the guests were talking with the family, a sweet lady came up to me to give me a hug. As she was doing so, she whispered in my ear that when one life ends, another begins. That really hit home to me, but again was a reminder that my grandmother wouldn't meet Ellie.

That night Josh and I had our childbirth class. We opted for the short, two hour class since we had already kinda been through a labor. I had been joking all day that I couldn't wait to see Josh's face when he watched "the video" (a live birth). As it turns out, Josh did fine and I am the one that TOTALLY flipped out. I just kept thinking that there was NO WAY that I could do that!

I went to school the next day a little uncomfortable. My back hurt and I had some cramps but it wasn't anything too bad. At 11:15 my mom came to pick me up to take me to my 37 week appointment. As I was leaving, I told all my teacher friends that I would see them for recess duty. Little did I know, I would be having a baby 2 hours later!

A Long 9 Months

The excitement of finding out I was pregnant was short lived. The fear quickly kicked in and I was a nervous wreck. I called my clinic to make an appointment and went in the next day for the routine pregnancy test. The nurse called my name and when we started walking down the hallway she told me that all the rooms were full so we would just go in the ultrasound room so she could go over all the prenatal information. My stomach flipped...the last time I was in that room I had found out Tytus had passed. As soon as we walked in the room I lost it. The nurse was so kind and just hugged me. She told me that things were going to be different this time. I wanted to believe her so bad but I was full of doubt.

My first appointment with the doctor was the following Monday. I saw the same doctor that I saw with Tytus. Although she was so great during the miscarriage, she was not what I needed this time around. She was very "matter of fact" and was not reassuring at all. She told me that IF I made it to the second trimester, I would need to see a specialist in Little Rock. WHAT! She had told me before that the miscarriage was a fluke..a "one in a million" chance...just bad luck. While I am sure she was just covering herself by wanting me to see a specialist, I left that appointment with even more worry than before. My mom had mentioned maybe switching clinics and after that appointment, I knew I had to. I couldn't keep going to that place. Just walking in there brought up way too many emotions. I know I was probably being overly dramatic, but switching clinics ended up being the best thing for me.

I switched clinics the following month and I am so glad that I did. They were so patient with me and very reassuring. They saw no reason at all to see a specialist and instead scheduled an amnio for the following month.

The amnio went great. I made sure not to read up too much on the internet because I knew I would freak myself out. The test went great...honestly I was more worried about the ultrasound. It would be the first time I would see the baby after the 14 week mark (which is when they think I lost Tytus). After I saw a beating heart, I was fine. The test didn't hurt at all and I was sent home on bedrest for the rest of the day. Now the hard part began...a LONG two week wait. I left two days later to go to a workshop in Searcy, Arkansas which was a good distraction.

I finally got the results two and a half weeks later. All I wanted to hear was that the baby was healthy. I will never forget the phone call. I was home by myself and I was laying on the bed watching The View. I answered and the nurse gave me the good news that everyhthing looked great. I know it sounds cliche, but I felt a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. I was crying like crazy and I almost didn't hear the nurse ask if I wanted to know the sex of the baby (the amnio can tell the sex with 99.9% accuracy). Of course I said yes and she told me that we would be having a baby girl. I don't even remember hanging up the phone. The crying had turned into complete sobbing. I just remember thanking God over and over again. Once I finally got myself together I tried to call Josh (he was coaching volleyball practice). He knew the results would be in soon so he PROMISED he would answer. Well, of course he didn't hear the phone. I tried my mom next...no answer. Then my sister...no answer. I was going crazy!! Finally everyone called me back and I shared the great news. I couldn't believe that I was having a girl. I guess I just assumed it would be a boy. Josh and I would have been excited either way, but something about having a girl made this pregnancy seem totally different.

The school year started and the pregnancy continued to go great. When I was pregnant with Tytus, I had a lot of problems with protein my urine. This time I did not have that problem. The baby was growing great, I was not sick at all, my weight gain was great, no heartburn...it was over all a great experience. I am so glad that everything went smoothly because I was a nervous wreck the entire time. Even though I was told over and over again that everything was fine and going great, I still couldn't let myself be 100% excited until she was here.

My due date was January 6th, but Ellie Faith had plans of her own...(birth story up next)

A God Thing

I was dreading the month of May. I had held so many hopes for that month. I was going to be a mom by my 27th birthday. I was going to celebrate my first Mother's day as a mom. I just really wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there for the whole month!

My due date for Tytus was suppose to be May 1st. On April 29th, I was having a really crappy day. For some crazy reason I felt the need to take a pregnancy test. We had just started talking about trying again, and I really didn't think it would happen yet. I guess I just wanted to see the "negative" so that I could get it over with. My sister decided to come over to cheer me up, so I waited until she got to the house to take the test. I took the test and then handed it to her (she must really love me!). I told her I already knew what it was going to say, but I just really didn't want to see it. After a couple of minutes, she said "Are you sure you know what it is going to say?" She had this crazy look in her eyes and turned the test around so that I could see the word "pregnant". I can't even begin to explain how I felt. I burst into tears and I think my sister and I hugged for ever! I was shaking like crazy and my mind began to race. Josh was in the living room and didn't even know I was taking a test. Even though I had always dreamed of telling him I was pregnant in a creative way, I was way too excited. I found a gift bag to put the test in. I ran out to the living room and handed him the bag. He looked in it and we both started crying again. Just 2 days before we should have been welcoming our baby boy, we found out that we were expecting again. This is just the first of many instances that I consider a "God Thing" with this pregnancy.

Catching Up

I have not blogged in such a long time even though I have had so much to say about my pregnancy with Ellie Faith. I had big plans about doing monthly updates of what was happening, updates on doctor appointments, pictures of the nursery, etc. Honestly, I was scared. I was so scared of actually letting myself be excited about the pregnancy. I guess I thought if I did all those, then I would be jinxing myself. I went to every doctor's appointment scared to death. Those short seconds it took for the doctor to find the heartbeat always seemed like forever. The two and half week wait for the amnio results felt like an eternity. I really feel like I walked on egg shells. Although I put my complete trust and faith in the Lord, I was still scared. Now, after 10 LONG months, I am sitting on my couch with my healthy baby girl right beside me and I feel so incredibly blessed. I am going to try to back track a little because so many things happened during my pregnancy that I can only contribute to God. This is probably going to be a series of posts...I have a lot of catching up to do!