Amazing

This man is AMAZING!! I can not even begin to imagine what I would do without him. Not that I didn't think that he would be a great dad but, I have to say that he is the most amazing daddy to Ella. He is always willing to take on diaper duty, make bottles, give baths, feed her, get up with her in the middle of the night, anything that she needs. All of this is done on top of helping me recover from a major surgery and dealing with my crazy post pregnancy hormones. I'm completely weepy and cry all the time and all the while he just sticks by me and tells me everyday that he loves me and thinks that I'm beautiful.

Babe - Thank you so much for being the most amazingly wonderful husband and dad!! I'm so grateful that you have been able to spend this time at home with me and Ella. I could never get through this without you. You are my best friend and I love you more than I could ever tell you. I know that Ella does too!

Ella's Journey

Now that our little one has finally arrived, and many have wanted to know the story, I thought I would document her rough journey to get here.

It started Sunday Feb, 13th. I had been having some crampy feelings and lower back pain all day. I thought that they were contractions but since the pain was pretty much constant I was having trouble timing them. At around 5:00 I told Taylor that I was packing the bag and we needed to head to the hospital. We packed the bag and headed to Jordan Valley. When we got there, I got hooked up to all of the machines so they could properly monitor my contractions. After 2 hours of being monitored I was sent home because I was not dilated and my contractions were just not close enough together. I was frustrated to say the least. We made it home and I was in labor all night long. I couldn't sleep and the pain was crazy. When I woke up the next morning I went to the bathroom and noticed that I was bleeding. I looked at Taylor and said "I think we are going to have to go back." After a quick call to the hospital to confirm that I should really go back in, after all I didn't want to get sent back home again, we were off. When we got to the hospital I was checked in again and once again hooked up to all of the machines. This time my contractions were much more consistent. This was it!! It had to be!! Then two nurses walked in the room. I was confused as to why there were two nurses but quickly found out that one was still in training and the other one was there to supervise. So the nurse in training checked me and said that I wasn't dilated at all. How could that be?? I mean my Dr. had at least been giving me a 1/2 a centimeter for over a month now. I couldn't have closed up. So they agreed to monitor me for an hour and then check me again. After an hour the same nurse checked a and said that I was 1 centimeter dilated. I was so upset. I couldn't be sent home again. This had to be the real deal. I was in a ton of pain and had been since the day before. Before they could send me home the supervising nurse had to check me and when she did she said I was dilated to 5 centimeters!! Are you kidding me?? How could the other nurse not tell that I was a 5!! This seems like it should be a pretty standard thing right? The nurse in training then looked at me and said "is it possible that you have a second cervix?" Um what?? don't you think that after being pregnant for 9 months that if I had a second cervix my Dr. would have noticed that?? All I could do was stare at her with a completely irritated look on my face. Obviously she needs a lot more training. Anyway, at that point I asked if I could please have my epideral. This was it after all. We were going to have a Valentines baby. I got my epideral and things were good but I was progressing slowly. It took me from 9:30 in the morning until about 6:00 at night to go from a 5 to a 9.5. Even though I was not quite a 10 they decided to have me start pushing. At this point I was physically exhausted. I had been up for over 24 hours and had been in labor for most of that time. I hadn't eaten anything since 10:00 the night before I was just done. I had a fever of 102 and Ella's heart rate had started jumping. At this point the decision was made to do a C-section. They wheeled me into the operating room and got started. I was told I would feel pressure but I was feeling something more. It was painful. I don't know if the drugs didn't kick in properly or if I am a wuss but it was really painful. The next thing I heard was my Dr. saying "put her under." Two hours later I woke up to find an extremely worried family. After they got Ella out my uterus would not contract back down and therefore I wouldn't stop bleeding. I lost a ton of blood. I found out later that they almost had to do a complete hysterectomy to get the bleeding to stop. I can't even imagine how I would have felt if I had to wake up to that news. While they were able to get the bleeding to stop, I had to be monitored very closely. Of course my mom and dad were freaking out! I'm just glad I was knocked out and don't remember any of it. Once I woke up I was still pretty out of it and didn't have enough strength to hold Ella until she was about 12 hours old. I didn't get to see her first bath, hear her first cries, I didn't even know what she looked like. All I knew was that she was here and she was completely happy and healthy. That was enough for me! I've had a rough recovery and I'm still in it. Before I could even leave the hospital I had to have a blood transfusion due to the amount of blood I lost. My Dr. told me that this was the worst possible situation that could have ever happened but I made it through. For the first time in my life I feel tough!! Maybe I'm not as big of a wuss as I thought I was! I will say this... She is totally worth it and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Here are some pics of our crazy experience.

Our Finished Product!

Holding Daddy's Hands

Seeing Ella for the First Time

After My C-Section. Still Out of it! Lookin Hot!

Ella has arrived

Jessica is fast asleep and I took a lucky guess at what her password was for her blog. I am happy to report that Ella Darlene Riley was born at 7:30 pm on Monday, February 14th, 2011. She is very healthy and weighed in at 7 pounds and 6 ounces. She was 19 and one half inches long. Jessica had some complications but is in high spirits. She had to wait 12+ hours to hold Ella for the first time.
The funniest moment of the evening was bringing Ella into the nursery. The blinds were drawn so I was able to take Ella to her station without the family watching. The nurse asked me if I was ready and then opened the shades. Our family came running like a pack of puppies at meal time. They were all bouncing like prairie dogs in excitement. It was a moment I will never forget.