Ashlee Elizabeth-Birth Story

Our little lady is finally here and this is her story....

My Doctor gave us the option of being induced after 39 weeks and after discussing this with Chris we picked a date that worked best with Chris' school schedule. Fortunately for us it worked with the Doctor's schedule as well and so we were set to be induced on Friday February 18th at 9am. As the date got closer I of course got more and more anxious and nervous to be the mother of three kids. I worked until Thursday which helped keep my mind off of my nerves. On Friday we took the kids over to Grandma Nelson's where they would stay until the baby was born. On our way over there Valley Hospital called and asked if we could come in at 10am instead of 9am. I was just happy they didn't ask us to come in another day so we hung out with the kids for a while then Chris gave me a tour of Touro University and then we headed over to the hospital. We got there at 10am and were taken to our nice suite at the end of the hallway. It took a little longer than normal for us to get completely set up but finally around 11:30am the Pitocin was set up and going. By noon I was remembering what contractions felt like and then before I knew it I was to a four and able to get my epidural. It was amazing how little pain I was in and then the little pain I was in was gone! Things went pretty smooth for a while until we noticed that with almost every contraction the baby's heart rate would drop quite dramatically. The nurse was keeping an eye on it and moved me from one side to the other to see if that worked for the baby. After a little while they decided to move me to internal monitoring and place an IV of solution directly into my placenta to hopefully release some pressure on the baby's cord. I asked Chris and my Dad to give me a blessing and after that I felt a bit better. When I was to a complete 10 they had me push a few times and decided that they didn't want me to push any more until the Dr was there.

(Me before we started pushing)

That was a little stressful to me, but I figured it was better that he was there just in case something did happen. The doctor showed up pretty fast and we got started. By this time I was given oxygen and the nurses were constantly messing with my belly to keep the baby stimulated to get her heart rate up. After pushing for about 10-15 minutes and feeling like a complete failure the baby's head came out. I remember asking my mom if everything was ok and she said yes, but later told me she wanted to tell the Dr to hurry up because Ashlee's face was getting bluer and bluer. The whole time Chris was so supportive and keep telling me how great I was doing! When Ashlee's head came out the cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, so much so that the Doctor couldn't just pull it off and had to cut it off right then and then Ashlee was placed on my chest....

This was a new experience for me. Katelee was rushed off to get oxygen and Ethan was taken over to get taken care of right after delivery. I enjoyed seeing her so close so soon, but got a little stressed when the nurse kept saying "come on baby, cry.." Soon enough she took her breath and cried and the tears from this momma came a little faster. I was so excited to see my newest little angel. She was perfect in every way and her cry is one that I hope to store in my long term memory forever! Even though she was slimy and nasty I loved her instantly!

Here is my beautiful girl just minutes after birth. Looks like Katelee to me and Ethan to Chris!

When they cleaned her up and gave her to Chris he brought her over to me and I got to hold my little lady again! I love the smell of newborns, it might seem nasty to think about it but it's a smell that to me represents life and happiness!

Proud Grandma!

Ashlee and Dr. Bart, always telling jokes!

Look at that blond hair, much blonder than her Brother and Sister's was and much less too!

We called the kids and told them to head on down to the hospital. When they showed up it made me so happy to see them. Unfortunately it was close to shift change when they took Ashlee into the nursery so the kids weren't able to hold her until the next day. They were able to see her through the nursery window and they were excited to finally have her out of my belly. They cuddled with me for a while and then they went home with Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn for the night. Finally around 9:30pm Ashlee was brought into our room.

The next day the kids came again and finally got to hold their little sister. How excited they were to finally touch here and talk with her. Katelee kept calling her Ashlee Elizabeth and Ethan just kept saying over and over how cute she was!

Ethan with his newest little sister....

Katelee with her little sister....

We were able to leave the hospital Saturday after Ashlee turned 24 hours old! We were excited to bring out newest addition home!

Ashlee Elizabeth Nelson

Friday February 18th, 2011

7 lbs 10oz

20 inches

5:12 p.m.