After what had seemed like years instead of months, Ella's due date of October 2nd was finally coming near.  Yet even after all we had been through, we were hoping she would wait until her due date to make her arrival. There were events happening in September that were important to us, and we wanted to get some final things in order before her birth, especially if she ended coming home for any length of time.  However, she and God evidently had other plans.

I had a regular perinatology appointment on Tuesday, August 30th.  I had been to my spinning class in morning and felt fine, except for what seemed like regular pregnancy fatigue.  I had been experiencing a lot of swelling in my feet the last week, but again, this seemed pretty predictable as I neared the end of pregnancy, especially in the summer.  Kevin and I went to our opening day speaker for school and left around lunch to see the doctor.  We were surprised to find that my blood pressure was very elevated, and I had signs of pre-eclampsia.  My perinatologist insisted that I be admitted to the community hospital immediately (where he sees me for appointments) and, once stabilized, transferred via ambulance to the medical college to begin induction on Tuesday night. 

The induction was better and worse than expected.  The overall time was much better (Brian's labor was 39 hours, this was more like 15) but the end was dramatic and somewhat frightening.  My water broke at 3:00 a.m., and I was dilated to three at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.  Kevin had left to pick up Brian so I could see him for a few moments before labor got really intense.  Suddenly, my contractions started coming every 1 1/2 -2 minutes and were incredibly intense.  I asked to have the anesthesiologist come for an epidural, and he came in at 9:00.  He had my back prepared and was ready to insert the needle when I felt another contraction coming.  It was so painful, and I was hanging on to the bed rail and yelling "Someone help me" to anyone who would listen, because I felt her head coming.  The nurse went running for a doctor, but by the time a doctor got there, she was halfway out, and I ended up with a painful upper tear.  My doctor was able to came in time to deliver the placenta and stitch me up.   Unfortunately, Kevin didn’t make it back until they were finishing the stitches.

Ella Lorine was born at 9:07, and she cried right away.  She spent about an hour on my chest, and she was baptized a total of three times—once by my mother immediately after birth, once by Sister Helen, and finally by my pastor.  After about an hour, they weighed and measured her.  She was 4 pounds, 15 ounces, and 18 inches long.  They said she was probably 5 pounds at birth, but she had lost a fair amount of urine during the time I held her, and that caused a small amount of weight loss.  Most of our family members were able to be there by 11:00 or so.  We thought we were losing her at noon, because her heart rate started to slow down significantly.  We kept giving her oxygen from a distance and we gave her a dose of morphine.  Her heart rate picked up again, and Kevin and Brian gave her a little bit of a bath.  Again, around 2:00 her heart rate slowly dropped from 100 to 80, then 60, then 40.  But she seemed to pick up again, so they asked everyone to leave the room so they could clean me up a little.  Her daddy held her while they took care of me, and the nurse checked her just before leaving to allow the family back in the room. She looked at us and shook her head.  Ella had left us, just before 3:00. 

Our families came back in to say goodbye.  We had Brian give his sister a special goodbye kiss, and then we sent him to play with someone.  Kevin helped one of the nurses make hand and foot molds and prints, and after everyone left, we kept her with us through the night.  We said goodbye to her at 9:00 Thursday morning, just 24 hours after she came.  We had six precious hours of life and one day of togetherness, and while we’re grateful for all we received, it will never be enough.  We miss her so much.

My pre-eclampsia did not resolve itself after birth, and my blood pressure continued to stay quite elevated.  I was released from the hospital late Thursday evening with the condition that someone check my bp 3-4 times each day.  By Friday morning, it was out of control again and I had to be readmitted.  They started the magnesium drip again and decided to try a beta blocker.  Although my levels are still elevated, they let me come home late Saturday night, because they seem to be steadier on the new medication.