Introducing.....Elle Maryann Hampton

Ok. I know that Elle is now 2 months old and this post is a little bit over due but I still wanted to share my labor and delivery experience with you. It begins like this......

I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, May 27th at 6am.

So here I am, bright and early, one last prego shot.

They broke my water first thing and a few hours later they started the pitocin. I was pretty comfortable til about noon. The nurse suggested she call for the epidural because by the time it gets there I would be really be ready for it. Well she was right! Giving Birth was one of the easiest, most beautiful things I have ever done. I loved every minute. Getting an epidural was the most horrible, terrifying thing I have ever had happen to me. Here is that story....

First here is a few wonderful (hahaha) shots of me before and after the pain set in. I am sure you can guess which is which.

So for the epidural story...

The nurse paged the doctor for the epidural. He never got the page and went home. From the time she sent the page to the time the doctor came back to give me the epidural was about 2 hours. By that time I was dying, or at least it felt like it. Thankfully the nurse did all she could to get me comfortable. The one thing that seemed to help was to stand up and rock myself back and forth or to sit in the wooden rocking chair and rock back and forth. So the doctor shows up to give me the epidural and by that time the contractions were pretty strong, really frequent and very long. He preped my back and began. To make a long and painful story short....I was given the epidural 4 times, each time being unsuccessful. That's right people, 4 back preps, 4 numbing shots, 4 epidural needles and 4 epidural catheters, none of which worked. I have come to learn that I have very small spinal spaces which make for very difficult epidural placement. Lucky me! At that point, I was a total mess. I was bawling, terrified and miserable. It didn't help that the doctor told me that he didn't think I would be getting an epidural. At that very sentence I freaked. I was in so much pain and still only dilated to a 4. I could only imagine what kind of pain I was in for if I didn't get that dang epidural! He said he would call in a pro, another doctor who had been doing epidurals for over 30 years. So I waited another hour in pain (this time it was from my back being stabbed over and over).

I got my epidural, at 4pm. The 5th try is the charm!

Elle joined us at 12:03am on Saturday, May 28th, 2011. I started pushing at 11:20pm and was trying my best to get her here before the next day, but she had other plans. Giving birth was awesome. I felt so proud of myself for doing something that seemed so hard. It was kind of euphoric. I wish I could relive that experience again and again. Elle was the most beautiful little baby and she still is. They put her up on my stomach right when she came out and it was wonderful to finally hold and lay my eyes on my little girl. Danny cut the cord, they cleaned her up and we were able to hold, nurse and snuggle her for a good 2 hours before they whisked her away to do all the tests and stuff they do on babies.

Here is the first picture of our Baby Elle....

To be continued.....

Preparing for Baby Elle

We have been doing lots to prepare for our new addition to our little family. It has been lots of fun getting ready for Baby Elle to join us. Here is a little of what we have been up to the past few months awaiting her arrival.....

Danny had fun putting together all her new things, from the stroller and swing to the new dresser. Here he is figuring out the dresser. He is already such a great Dad.

Here is the finished product!

While Danny stayed busy with the heavy duty items, I took on a few other more cuddly projects. Here are a few of the blankets I was able to make Baby Elle. I can't wait to wrap her up in them.

We don't have the luxury of giving Baby Elle her own room yet but here is her cute little space we have made for her in our room, for the next few months.

Isn't the blanket so so cute....my sister Maryann made it. I just love it!

Baby Shower

Baby Elle and I were given a beautiful Baby Shower on April 9th

By these wonderful people, my sisters and mom.

Lots of people came to celebrate with us. It was so fun to see friends, family and neighbors!

We were blessed with many, many needful gifts! I am so thankful for the love and support that was given to Elle, Danny and I.

And of course there was lots of yummy food. Didn't they all do a great job at making it look so girly and cute. I love my family!

Lisa made this adorable diaper cake. It turned out so stinkin' cute. I just love it!

Thank you againg, to all the wonderful people in my life. I can't wait for Baby Elle to meet all of you!

Pictures of You

Two Little Feet

and Two Little Hands

=

One Little Elle

(sucking on her hand)

Elle

We will call her Elle.

She moves around like crazy these days, with little jabs here and there.

It is the best part of my day...Danny is very jealous.

We get to see her cute little face (if she holds still long enough) this coming Tuesday in another ultrasound. We'll post pictures as soon as we get them!

Ps...we're back to May 25th for the due date (i'm 23 weeks today).

This makes me very happy!

It's a.....GIRL

It is a Girl. I was shocked. I had thought it would be a boy for so long that I think I had convinced myself it was. Danny wanted it to be a girl. After the shock, I was just glad to finally know what we are having. I have been dying to buy a cute little outfit and we did. Man, little girl clothes are a lot more expensive than boy clothes.

When we went in for our ultrasound the Dr. measured our little girls head and determined that we are probably not as far a long as we had calculated. So my new due date is June 6th, 20011! 10 days later than we had thought. Bummer!

It took a while for the dr. to let us know it was a girl. She was just chillin' out sitting indian style covering up the evidence (it was so cute). It took a lot of pushing on her to get her to move into a better position but she finally did. The time before when we saw her on the utrasound she was a crazy little baby, moving around so fast the Dr. could never properly measure her (hence the wrong due date and my possible reasoning for it being a boy). It seems she has calmed down a bit or the space is just getting a little cramped.

Either way, we love her more and more each day and can not wait for the day that we can hold her in our arms!

What's Going On...

We have had a lot of things going on these past few months. I guess it is time to catch everyone up with what's going on. I am still student teaching but counting down the days til I am done in December. Danny is so busy with going to school full time and working full time. We hardly see each other, a few min each morning and then on Saturdays and Sundays. I am so grateful for such a hard working husband. He is so wonderful.
We had the wonderful blessing to be sealed for eternity in the Provo Temple this past Saturday. It was an awesome experience and we are still relishing in the feelings. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends and family that shared in that special moment with us. We were also recently called to serve together as the 9 year old teachers in primary. I am really excited about this and think it will be loads of fun. There are 13 of them. I hope we can keep them under control.
Also.....we are going to be having a BABY!!! Yep. May 25th is the big day. I was going to wait a little longer to tell people but the other day a few of my students were giggling and kept looking at me and then they would giggle again so I asked what was so funny, is my zipper down or something? They just continued to giggle (high school girls) and one of them finally said, "I heard you are having a baby". And she did not say this very quietly, so the whole class turned to look at me. At first I wanted to lie but I final said, "and how did you hear that". She wouldn't confess, but I am pretty sure I know who she got it from. Anyways, by the end of the period I was bombarded with every question in the book, "what are you going to name it", "do you want a boy or a girl", "when are you due" and so on.
So I guess if my students know, the rest of the world can too. So, it is true. We are having a baby!
And that is what's going on. That and a whole lot of nausea, heartburn, and sleepiness!