Happy Birth Day, Eli!

Eli finally decided to enter this world on Tuesday, December 20 at 5:02 am. He was 6 lbs 13 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. I went in on Monday evening to start the cervidil medicine. My doctor warned me that it probably wouldn't put me into labor but we would start pitosin the next morning and hopefully meet our little guy on Tuesday. Well, the cervidil worked and I started having regular contractions that kept getting longer, stronger, and closer together. (In birth class they tell you that means you are in labor.) At about 2:00 am I finally was far enough along to get an epidural. It was amazing! The whole time I was in the birth room, they had a monitor on Eli to listen to his heart beat. He kept moving around so the nurse would have to adjust my monitor so we could hear his heart beat. When the new nurses came in at 3:00 am, Eli's heart beat started dropping for seconds at a time. It would get as low as 60. So the nurse called in the on-call doctor and she thought maybe it was because Eli was coming faster than expected. I was dilated to a 7, so she decided to just keep a close eye on him but to hold off on the c-section. After a little while longer she told me that she was going to call in the c-section team just in case. She checked me again and I hadn't dilated any more, so she told me that we were going to go in for the c-section. The on-call doctor told me that the doctor I had been seeing was also going to come in. That was a relief to me. I was really scared that there was something seriously wrong with Eli- which I guess there could have been- but they got me in and 10ish minutes later he was there. He was such a beautiful baby. Brent thought he looked like a Wertenberger boy. I was just so glad he was finally here and doing fine. The doctor told us that his heart rate had been dropping because his umbilical cord was above his head. So every time he tried to be born, it would cut off his umbilical cord causing his heart rate to drop. I was shocked that his birth weight was in the 6 lbs. It's a normal weight, but I was just assuming he would at least be 7 lbs. Anyway, we finally got to go to a room and I got to hold Eli for the first time. He was and continues to be a wonderful baby. He is a good sleeper and eater. On Monday of this week (when he was 6 days old) his weight was 7lbs 1.6oz. So he is getting bigger by the day! God has blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined. We both love parenthood so much and pray that we will take care of Eli the way God has called us to. 

Eli's name is just one Brent and I have liked for a long time- even before we were pregnant. Every time one of our close friends or family were pregnant we held our breath for the name because we wanted to use Eli so bad. Eli's middle name is Marion. This is after Brent's grandpa Wichert. Brent grew up just down the road from Grandpa Wichert and he passed away this Spring.

C-section time.

Getting checked out right after being born.

All bundled up!

First bath.