she's here!

it wasn't much longer after i wrote the last post that we got down to business to get this baby into the world! at about 4:30am, it was time to start pushing. what's funny is kyle told me while i was pregnant that he always imagined me with pigtails while i was giving birth. so i quickly re-did my hair and put in my contacts, and was ready to go!

telling my mom, it's time to get this little girl out here!!

pigtails... check!

our last picture of just the two of us!

our nurse, barbara (who i loved!), had me push a few times, and ellery's head quickly scooted on down! again, we thought this wasn't going to take long at all! barbara called dr. mccann to tell him it was go-time, and he was soon in the room.

so things didn't go as quickly as we had hoped... it was pretty slow-going. what was nice was even with the epidural, i was still able to feel when contractions were coming and when i should push. but being like her momma, ellery just needed a little bit more time to get ready before she made her big debut :) . after quite a bit of pushing, contractions starting picking up to every 2 minutes, and we soon were able to see our little daughter had a full head of hair! she also kept dr, mccaan laughing because through the whole pushing process, she was a little wiggle worm. i guess most babies stay put and don't move a lot, but ellery must have been doing a happy dance, knowing she was finally going to meet us, too! :) i also remember doing this, but kyle thought it was hilarious - as i would push, i would look up at kyle, and every once in a while, wink at him. in my mind, i wanted him to know i was still doing great, and i was just so excited this all was happening! i guess kyle initially thought i had a twitch, then when he found out i was intentionally doing it, he just laughed :)

soon, contractions started to get even closer together and i was working a lot harder... before, between contractions, me kyle barbara and dr. mccann would casually talk and laugh. like i said, truly enjoy and take in the moment. but as the contractions got closer together, i was almost falling asleep between them because i was just tired. i remember kyle & dr. mccann were "doctor-talking," discussing residency, life as a doctor, etc. i really tried to stay apart of the conversation, with the occasional, "uh huh" and "yeah," but really, i had no idea what they were talking about...

finally, at about 7:05am (after 2 1/2 hours of some serious pushing!) dr. mccann said only a few more pushes and he would break down the bed to prepare for ellery to make her way out. well, i meant business people, and with one more push, our sweet girl's head was almost out! dr. mccann & the nurses freaked out and quickly got ready for this baby to be out just seconds later. at this point, i just couldn't stop pushing! and moments later, at 7:08am, our sweet ellery annabelle was welcomed into the world...

ellery annabelle morgan

born november 28, 2011 at 7:08 am

7pounds 6 ounces 20.5 inches

as she came out, dr. mccann greeted her with the words, "oh she's a cutie. and she's got a little meconium popping out!" a little poop and all, our little girl was such a cutie :) and a trooper - she cried for a few seconds, and that was it. her coloring was absolutely beautiful. and her little head was only slightly misshapen, even after 2 1/2 hours of pushing. and as they put ellery on my chest, we snuggled together and she latched on right away (a huge answered prayer - we had prayed a lot about breastfeeding the last trimester of our pregnancy).

i'm sure most woman who have birthed a child feel this way, but it was such an amazing, surreal experience. one we waited over 9 months for. an experience that i actually loved, even if it was painful. it was absolutely worth is. it all seemed to happen in an instant - there, finally, was our little girl. a little piece of me and a little piece of kyle. so absolutely in awe. so very nice to finally meet you, ellery. our sweet girl.