Ella Grace

We had our sweet little baby! Ella Grace Harris was born on March 22 at 1:51 pm after 11 hours of labor. (I felt like that was pretty fast for a first-timer). She was 7 lb 3 oz and was just shy of 20 inches long (although I remeasured her at home and she was definitely 20 inches:). Instead of going with an OB, I went with a nurse midwife group that was excellent. I hoped to have a natural childbirth experience and thanks to my midwife, I succeeded!

If you're interested, here's the birth story: I woke up at 3 am on the 22nd because my water broke. I hadn't been having contractions beforehand but it only took about 15 minutes for them to become regular, intense, and about 2-3 minutes apart. We stayed home for about 2 hours with them like that and finally they became too intense to wait any long. Upon arriving at the hospital I was sure I couldn't go without pain medication. But the midwife checked me and I was already dilated to a 4-5. So I decided I could do it. We walked the halls, I sat on the birthing ball for a good while, and enjoyed the jacuzzi tub. I pushed for about an hour or so (probably longer). Ella did fabulously well and even came out with a perfectly rounded head. Didn't even think that was possible. It was an intense 11 hours, definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. [My two cents: My advice to anyone looking for natural childbirth would be to relax. Sounds impossible but it is so not. Sometimes I'd be in the zone and just not move for 30-45 minutes even while having huge contractions. It was almost like I was asleep. When I was able to relax, breath, and pretty much not move I did great and progressed quickly. When I let myself think too much about the pain I almost couldn't handle it. There your go:)]

We love our little baby so much. It really is amazing how instantaneously you can love someone so much. She is the sweetest, purest little person I've ever known and I'm constantly amazed by her. And so begins parenthood. Lovin' it already:)