Meet Ellen Lucille "Ellie" Ottomanelli
Born 9/19/2011 at 12:36am
8 lbs, 5 oz 19.5 in long
The Name:
Ellen is named after my grandmother that passed away almost two years ago. It is also my mom's middle name, my middle name and my aunt's (on my dad's side) middle name. Lucille...just because we liked it.
The Baby:
She looks like a miniature, more feminine version of Timmy. Same basic face, apple chin and chubby cheeks. Ellie has blondish hair and less of the barrel chest that Timmy had, but otherwise she looks very familiar. She is sweet and cuddly, already proving to be an excellent eater and snuggler.
The Labor & Delivery:
Saturday night I started having contractions around 8pm. They were pretty mild and only about every 15 minutes apart and stopped around 10pm. They woke me up again at 2am and were slightly more painful, but still not consistent and not progressing or getting closer together. Around 5:30am Sunday morning they stopped completely and I was tired and pissed that all that had led to nothing except a lack of sleep. Sunday I was grumpy (and contraction-free) all day. After accepting the fact that I could have several more nights like that before it turned into the real thing, contractions started at 7pm or so Sunday night. Still 15-20 minutes apart, but they quickly got more painful. Because of the abrupt end of contractions the night before, I was hesitant to call my mom and tell her to drive an hour up here to stay with Timmy. By 9:15 they were so painful that I knew even if they never got closer together they must be making me progress enough to be admitted at Labor & Delivery. I called my mom and calmly packed up the last few things I wanted to take to the hospital while Pete cleaned up and left notes for my mom on taking care of Timmy on Monday. She hit traffic on the way up to our place (seriously, 10pm on a Sunday night...only the 405 would have traffic), so as soon as she arrived at 10:40pm, we headed out the door.
Contractions were really painful at this point, but still only 8 minutes apart or so. I mentally prepared to be sent home. We got to the hospital right around 11pm and when I was finally checked at 11:30, I was already 6 cm dilated. Considering I was admitted at 2-3 when I had Timmy, this was crazy. I was begging for an epidural, but they had to get the requisite amount of fluid in via IV first. I think they finally got the epidural started around 12:15 am, at which point the nurses checked me and said I was already 10 cm and fully effaced. We waited for the doctor to arrive and when she did, the baby was out in two quick pushes. She was placed on my chest and we enjoyed skin-to-skin contact and nursing for almost an hour once she was cleaned up.
The Recovery:
I'm honestly blown away at how easy it has been this time around. As I sat in the hospital bed on Monday, I kept waiting for the epidural to wear off and start feeling pain. It never happened. I asked my nurse if it was possible that the epidural was still effective (like 16 hours after I delivered) and she laughed as she said no. We came home Tuesday afternoon and adjusting to life at home with two kids has been pretty smooth.
The Big Brother:
Timmy ADORES his baby sister. He bounded into the hospital room Monday morning shouting "LOOK AT THE BABY! THAT'S MY BABY!" and then asked to hold her, saying he wanted to give her a big hug and kiss (which he proceeded to do). Tuesday when he came home from daycare, I could hear him walking up the stairs saying "baby Ellie, where are you?!" He has shown nothing but affection (and concern if she's crying) so far and my heart melts every time I see the way he looks at her.
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