Thursday, February 24, 2011

Ellis Michael Demars

we are parents! it still doesn't seem real= though the 16 hours of pain sure felt real!


Ellis Michael Demars was born today around 3:30 in the afternoon, at 41 weeks and 2 days!  he was 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 3/4 inches long.  he has the most awesome head of reddish brown hair.


if you don't want  to read the story, you an skip below to the pictures... but when i was pregnant, reading others birth stories were good inspiration for me and i ate them up.

we arrived at the hospital at 7:30 last night.  bad idea: not taking a nap during the day before you go in to be induced, running errands all day, being extremely tired, etc.  we got in and got set up in our room and lucky for us, our sweet friend Amanda from our ward was on shift!  she gave her patient away so she could take us and she was a great starter nurse, we were super sad she was only working till 3 a.m. and wouldn't be here for the birth, but she was so sweet and helpful and awesome while we had her and hung out with us till midnight- thanks Amanda!

we started cervadil  (softens your cervix) right before 9 pm. i really had not wanted to be induced since i was planning on going natural, and knew that one intervention leads to another and turns into a big snowball effect of drugs and epidurals and c-sections and epesiotomies- yikes!  due to a crazy turn of events and being given the 42 week limit where we had to plan an induction by then if i hadn't gone on my own, and then the hospital being all booked around my 42 week mark (tuesday), we had no choice but to set an induction for yesterday evening.  so i cried a lot tuesday and wednesday and was resigned to my fate. haha.

well like i said, we hung out with Amanda till about midnight when we finally 'went to sleep'  which for me meant 'started having cramps'. awesome. no sleep for me. i tried to let damon sleep though, and succeed till a little after 3 am when my contractions were just too much and then my water broke (i was so hoping that would happen instead of having to start pitocin in the morning)!  from then on, things were a blur of pain and barfing and moving all over the place in different positions, from the bed, to walking, to sitting in the jacuzzi tub to trying anything i could to ease the pain a little, since i was only a 1 and had a loooong way to go for how bad i was feeling.  my midwife came in at 7 am and i was checked and at a 3... not a ton of progress but over the next 5 ish hours i went to a 7- a lot of pain and tears and making damon push with all his might on my back- oh, the back labor was horrid!  i was having no luck finding relief, and felt bad for my neighbors, i hope they weren't put off by my very very loud moaning and groaning!  well, wouldn't you know it, i made it to a 9 at 11:30... where i proceeded to stay till 2. talk about horrible. i was getting louder and louder and more and more hysterical, especially after every time they checked me and i'd made no progress. finally around 2 my body started pushing on it's own, and after a good while of that, finally pushed itself to a 10 and though not quite the station i would have liked to be, far enough that i could get away with pushing.

wow, pushing was something out of this world- on one hand, you can't help it and your body is bearing down with a mind of it's own and it is super relieving to push. on the other, you are contracting and your uterus is hard as a rock so it's almost impossible to push down and your baby is distressing cause you've been stuck too long and so it's painful and so it's the worlds biggest... oxymoron isn't the right phrase, but it's all my mush brain can think of.

in the end, i did it... mostly by calling on Heavenly Father to help me... like a lot. and really loudly.  and second, because damon was by my side the whole time. the poor guy was falling asleep in weird positions with me draped all over him in the jacuzzi tub, on the exercise ball, on the bed, he only ate once- a yogurt when a nurse got it for him... and he pushed on my back so hard he's probably super sore. but somehow we made out with this cute guy, and i got my natural birth, even after tons of interventions i didn't want...  life just works sometimes, you know?

and they handed me a squirmy little baby with tectonic plates still shifting on his conehead and a great head of hair that's a great combination of damon and i.  he had some issues 'grunting' when he cried so they thought he might have some respiratory issues and because he was kinda in distress from me not progressing, we had a whole slew of folks witnessing the show- including like 6 nurses and my midwife and then a team of 4 from the nicu. in the end, he got his stuff together after about 45 minutes and he's fine.  he is so cute and sweet and good smelling...


haha, doesn't this look like a newborn with a cheezy huge smile?!? we thought it was pretty funny...

at the spa.

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Ellis is SO super sweet and little and cute. Congrats!

Unknown said...

Congrats Tara and Damon! He is beautiful (or handsome...!!)

Shannon said...

Way to go mama! He has the perfect mouth for breastfeeding! You did it!

Unknown said...

So sweet! I'm so glad you did it au natural! You're awesome! What a little stud!

Pamela said...

Can't wait to see my grandson next week. Congrats Damon and Tara.

Kelly said...

He is beautiful!! I'm so happy for you.

Sara said...

Best post ever. I love him. I want to meet him right NOW. I am so glad things ended up going as planned...even though they didn't at first. You are amazing. You guys are going to be the best parents ever. I am so so so excited for you all! Please keep posting pictures so i can live vicariously through you! CONGRATS!!!!

Home-style Hodepodge said...

What a beautiful baby! Congrats! Gotta LOVE new babies!!

Unknown said...

i love love loooooooove birth stories.

and the name ellis.

he is so super handsome. congrats!

Carly said...

Thanks for the good cry this morning (partly from having to relive your labor but mostly from seeing your new precious perfect little boy). I'm so happy for you guys!

Billy and Nathalie said...

He is so cute! Can't wait to meet him!

Chanel Stone said...

CONGRATULATIONS! He is so so cute! I love the pic from the spa. He looks like he's really enjoying it. Don't you think? ha ha. ANYWAY, I'm really happy for you and Damon.

Now you have to change your blog to A Boy and A Girl....And A Boy!

Anonymous said...

i loved reading your story. We just found out we are due in October and i really want a natural birth too. this is enchouraging

Anonymous said...

ohh its amy roh by the way

Jennifer Karyn said...

he is definitely a gooood lookin baby. I'm amazed you did it all natural. You're awesome. Congratulations new mom. I can't wait to meet that adorable baby with the full head of hair :)

Charity said...

Oh yeah! I love birth stories, so Tara, thank you for sharing yours! I am so glad you named him Ellis. Damon, Grandpa Demars is so proud of your both, I am sure!
Tara, enjoy your few days in the hospital and your new little one!

Erin said...

Tara-You're amazing! Gabe and I were laughing at your story because it sounds so similar to ours with Gabriel (it went much better the 2nd time around). Gabe was probably more sore and tired than I was afterwards. Yeah for sweet husbands who help you have the birth you want. He's so beautiful. I'm so so happy for you! Congratulations!

Barrett Family said...

SOOO exciting. I love that boy already. I can't wait to see him. We prayed for you guys yesterday over dinner that your labor would go well. Minutes later we got Damon's text so I was pretty sure it was our prayers... ha ha, you had been done "laboring" for several hours by then! He is SO ADORABLE! I love his hair! I love the picture of Ellis and Damon. What a darling family. We want to meet him as soon as you're up for it! Oh, by the way, I'm so glad Amanda was there to help you!!! How nice! I hope you've had some rest (possible???) and some food (Damon, just a yogurt?). We're thinking about you!

kami said...

Congratulations!! I am so, so happy for you!! I am so glad you had the birth you wanted, even if it didn't go exactly as you'd envisioned. He is darling...enjoy these first moments!!

Devin & Shalise said...

Congrats you guys! He is SO cute! I am so amazed at any woman that can go through birth naturally. I know I couldn't do it! We can't wait to see him and hold him! Totally makes me baby hungry seeing all his pictures! Aaww... enjoy every moment. Take a rediculous amount of pictures and videos. You won't ever regret it. Don't every feel like you are spoiling him but sitting home and snuggling with him all day! Pretty soon he will be running around and won't want to be snuggled for a second. Hope to see you soon! We will be thinking of you!

Unknown said...

Hi Tara! Damon and I grew up in the same home ward/went to school together. I couldn't help but come look at your blog when he posted on facebook you had your baby! Congrats! We are expecting a boy in June and I want to due it all natural...I don't know if your story is more discouraging or encouraging! You are amazing though ;)

Andrea said...

I am so happy/proud of you! Congratulations on your healthy boy. I know what it is like to not get your dream delivery, but a healthy baby is really the only thing you need in the end, right? Love you guys and your new little one:)

cHelsEy N mOrgAN said...

I'm SOOO happy you got to go natural (as natural as you could). i love your story and the pics are great. your baby is SOOOO cute :D

Mary said...

Congratulations, Tara!

I'm so glad that Damon send Luke the link to your blog so that we could see the pictures of your sweet new guy!

One of these days I'll actually get to meet you two (three!), and that will be a good day. But until then I'll definitely be blog-stalking you. :)

Molly said...

Awesome job, mama!! Thanks for sharing your story and congrats on your gorgeous new little guy!

Shauna said...

Congrats! He is gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing your story!

Cate said...

I happened upon your blog doing a google search you have such a cute little family : ) loved your birth stoy even after my pregnancy I still love reading them
our birth stories definitely have some similarities!

Have a great day

Cate

Http://withatouchofpretty.blogspot.com

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