Ellie's Birth Story-As seen through Melissa's Eyes

(This is Part 2 of Ellie's Birth Story. Be sure to read Michael's version, below, first.)

I don't have much to add to Michael's version of what happened at the hospital, except to say I couldn't have done it all without him by my side every moment!

I think God always finds poignant moments to teach me about his love and grace, and this experience was one of them. I had had three ideals about giving birth: no induction, no epidural, and no c-section. All three of these ended up happening, but I have zero regrets. All I could think about and focus on was having a healthy baby at the end of this process, and that's what I have.

I couldn't believe how quickly my contractions started on Sunday night, and how quickly they became painful. They were about every 3 minutes beginning about 9 or 10pm and lasting all night. Michael said he was my pain management tool, and that's an understatement. He stood next to my bed and rubbed my back through each contraction, coaching me and talking me through each breath. I wanted to give up many times in the night, but he was there, encouraging me and helping me. This was a team effort, and he did this for hours and hours, all through the night, with no sleep.

As the clock neared 6am, my "goal" time to hopefully have progressed, my contractions were so bad that I couldn't relax. The hospital always asks, "How's your pain, on a scale of 1 to 10?" and I HATE that question. It seems so arbitrary to me. I always want to say, "compared to what?" Plus, how do I know if I'm just being a wuss? Maybe my perception of really painful contractions is really not as bad as what was coming. But, that's what worried me. When I found out I was only at 4 cm and it was going to still be many hours of labor, I knew I was going to need something to help me relax.

When the nurse came in and told us that Ellie's heart rate was dropping during contractions, we were both obviously alarmed. They refused to give me any narcotics, and this is when the big epidural question came into play. After debating and talking about it with family and the nurses, and after checking me again and seeing no more progress, I decided the best thing for the baby truly would be for me to have an epidural. My hope was that it would help me relax enough and that that would in turn help her heart rate. I don't regret the epidural at all. The moment I got it I began to relax and calm down. My only regret is that maybe I should have gotten it an hour or two before, instead of trying to be so "tough" and push through.

Once the epidural was going, and the heartrate continued to be a major concern, all I could think about is, "Please God, I don't care how she gets here, I just want a healthy, safe baby." Once the decision was made to go through with the c-section, I felt relief, and just hope, that she'd be here soon and safe.

The c-section was very quick, and suddenly I was face-to-face with the most beautiful site I'd ever seen. She was alive, and crying, and so was I.

The entire process was exhausting, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. That being said, every time I look at our precious baby girl I know I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, no questions asked. I have been overwhelmed by how much love I feel for our daughter. She's produced such intense, protectionist emotions in me. During the first 24 hours I kept thinking, "I can't believe how much I love this little girl." But now, after she's been here for 74 hours, I know I love her even more.

God has been so good to us and we are so thankful for Ellie Grace Chapman.

Click here to see some pictures of Ellie Grace. We'll upload more soon.

Born on October 18, 2010 at 9:13 am. 7 lbs 4 ozs, 20 1/4 inches long.