Got the call on Wednesday...
August 15, 2006
August 11, 2006
Brian's First Entry--August 11
The journey began for me on Wednesday, August 8th around 4pm. I received a text message from Jen to come home. It didn't take me more than a second to gather my stuff and run out of the meeting I was in, where I heard a faint "Good luck!" from the group. Little did I know it would be another 27 hours until I met Ellie...
The evening progressed normally. For the previous week Jen had experienced contractions, but not quite like this. By about 1:30 am, Jen was starting to feel some serious pain. The call was made to her parents at 2:30 to tell them to start heading this way from Green Bay. She also called the midwife, who told her to to try and stay at home until the contractions were closer together. At this point, they were 8 minutes apart. Jen hung in there another 5 hours, and by 7:30, she called back to the midwife, with a resounding "I did it!" By now, the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. About the same time, KJ and Bob arrived. Time for the hospital!
We checked into triage at about 8:30, and after some tests, Jen was reported to be about 3cm. Not bad, but they wanted her a little further along before they checked into the labor delivery room. So they suggested to walk around the floor for awhile. Around 11:30, and after about 45 minutes of walking, she was 4cm, and it was time to head upstairs.
Our desire was to try for a natural childbirth, so Jen (slowly) hopped into the birthing tub. She stayed in for some time, but the contractions were starting to get too painful, so she finally asked for an epideral at around 1pm, when she was about 6cm. KJ, who was with us the entire labor and delivery in the hospital, and I headed down for some food, since no one is allowed in the room during the rather large needle involved with the epideral. While we were gone, they also broke her bag of waters in order to keep things moving.
At about 2:30 pm, the midwife started Jen on Pitosin, which is designed to speed things up a little. And it worked! Soon, Jen was 8-9cm. Finally, around 4:30, Jen was the full 10 cm, and ready to push. Needless to say, this was the first point that I started getting butterflies in my stomach, both from the anticipation of pain for Jen, but also the excitement of meeting Ellie soon. So the nurse lined up on one side, and I on the other, each holding Jen's leg, with KJ holding Jen's head. Push!!!!
It didn't take long for the first hint of Ellie's most defining feature; a lock of thick, dark black hair! Jen did unbelievable during the pushing phase; she worked so hard. It took a long time, and she was exhausted after the first hour and a half. But even when she wanted to give up, she found the determination to push even harder.
At 6:54 pm the most indescribably beautiful moment of my entire life occured when Eleanor Kathleen Johnson Granstrom joined our world.
Jen had a chance to hold her immediately, but soon Ellie was whisked away for cleaning and tests. I had a chance to bond with her for the next half hour as they worked on Jen, who experienced some extensive blood loss during the birth.
KJ went down to the waiting room to let Bob, Jen's brother Charlie, my sister Kati, and my mother Cathy know the good news. Each of them had a chance to come up to the delivery room for a little while to meet Ellie.
At about 9pm it was time for the three of us to move to the postpartum room, and start our new life as a family!
The evening progressed normally. For the previous week Jen had experienced contractions, but not quite like this. By about 1:30 am, Jen was starting to feel some serious pain. The call was made to her parents at 2:30 to tell them to start heading this way from Green Bay. She also called the midwife, who told her to to try and stay at home until the contractions were closer together. At this point, they were 8 minutes apart. Jen hung in there another 5 hours, and by 7:30, she called back to the midwife, with a resounding "I did it!" By now, the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. About the same time, KJ and Bob arrived. Time for the hospital!
We checked into triage at about 8:30, and after some tests, Jen was reported to be about 3cm. Not bad, but they wanted her a little further along before they checked into the labor delivery room. So they suggested to walk around the floor for awhile. Around 11:30, and after about 45 minutes of walking, she was 4cm, and it was time to head upstairs.
Our desire was to try for a natural childbirth, so Jen (slowly) hopped into the birthing tub. She stayed in for some time, but the contractions were starting to get too painful, so she finally asked for an epideral at around 1pm, when she was about 6cm. KJ, who was with us the entire labor and delivery in the hospital, and I headed down for some food, since no one is allowed in the room during the rather large needle involved with the epideral. While we were gone, they also broke her bag of waters in order to keep things moving.
At about 2:30 pm, the midwife started Jen on Pitosin, which is designed to speed things up a little. And it worked! Soon, Jen was 8-9cm. Finally, around 4:30, Jen was the full 10 cm, and ready to push. Needless to say, this was the first point that I started getting butterflies in my stomach, both from the anticipation of pain for Jen, but also the excitement of meeting Ellie soon. So the nurse lined up on one side, and I on the other, each holding Jen's leg, with KJ holding Jen's head. Push!!!!
It didn't take long for the first hint of Ellie's most defining feature; a lock of thick, dark black hair! Jen did unbelievable during the pushing phase; she worked so hard. It took a long time, and she was exhausted after the first hour and a half. But even when she wanted to give up, she found the determination to push even harder.
At 6:54 pm the most indescribably beautiful moment of my entire life occured when Eleanor Kathleen Johnson Granstrom joined our world.
Jen had a chance to hold her immediately, but soon Ellie was whisked away for cleaning and tests. I had a chance to bond with her for the next half hour as they worked on Jen, who experienced some extensive blood loss during the birth.
KJ went down to the waiting room to let Bob, Jen's brother Charlie, my sister Kati, and my mother Cathy know the good news. Each of them had a chance to come up to the delivery room for a little while to meet Ellie.
At about 9pm it was time for the three of us to move to the postpartum room, and start our new life as a family!
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