The Day of Ellie's Birth

For those who don't already know the events leading up to Ellie's birth, this would be a good starting point. Everything was going as normal on Monday. I went to my doctor's appointment at 2pm, and everything seemed fine. Ava and I then went downtown and met Jeffrey for a frozen yogurt. I still felt fine, hadn't done any heavy lifting or strenuous activity all day. Ava and I said goodbye to Jeffrey and headed home. We pulled up at the house, and I got out of the car. As soon as I stood up, blood started rushing down my legs, and it just kept coming. Ava was still in her carseat, and I was on the verge of panicking. I called over two construction workers I saw down the road, and dialed 911. The construction workers helped me get Ava out of the car, call Jeffrey, and they coached me through what the dispatcher was telling them to do. They had me lay down on the side of the road, take off my pants, and check to see if the baby was coming out. She wasn't. The placenta had hemorrhaged, which my doctor suspected would eventually happen with my condition. The ambulance arrived after about 5 minutes. The loaded me up with no hesitation, and wanted to get the hospital. They wanted to leave Ava in police custody, but I told them Jeffrey was 5 minutes away, so the firemen and construction workers stayed with her, bless their soles. Ava was very brave, but confused.
After what seemed like an eternity in the ambulance, I got to the hospital, and they rushed me to triage. The nurse said one of three things would likely happen. 1)The bleeding would slow, and I would remain on bed rest in the hospital until I delivered. 2)The bleeding would stop, I could go home on bed rest or 3) and what she made seem very unlikely, they would deliver Ellie that night. Because my bleeding was so severe, they were forced to do an emergency c-section right away. I began bleeding at 4pm, and she was born at 5:41pm. That's how quickly everything happened. Jeffrey made it into the O.R. right as they were stitching me up. It was very scary being in there alone, but seeing my beautiful Ellie put me at ease. I am very thankful for all the kindness that was shown to me from complete strangers, and for the staff at the hospital. Ellie and I were in the best care possible in Northern California. Although I wish she was still in my tummy, I know that Ellie will grow strong and get out of the hospital before we know it!