2 1/4 Korean Family: Welcome Ellie!

Eleen Sihyun Rigby was born November 30, 2010!!! Sorry, she's already 3 weeks old, and it's taken 3 weeks for me to update everyone on the news. We are so excited that she is here, and she is so cute! She is very adorable, and Alden loves the new baby and is being a great big brother.

November 30 was our last regular check-up with an OB/GYN. I had been feeling that she would be coming really soon, but I wasn't really sure because the due date was still a week away. The due date was December 6th, and we were supposed to go to Salt Lake on December 4th to see the people from Korean consulte so that I could renew my passport. Because they require a finger print scan, you have to actually go to a consulate in person and I would've had to go all the way to San Francisco if I had missed them on December 4th. We were really worried that Ellie was gonna come a couple days early and I would have to either try to escape from the hospital or fly to San Francisco to get it done... :P Well, when we went in for our check-up that morning, the doctor did a vaginal exam and was very surprised that I was already at 4 cm! He said Ellie would probably be coming pretty soon, either that night or the next day.

All day, Joe and I were very anxious all day and waited for the sign. Joe had a big final presentation for his class next day, scheduled for that day because the due date was next week, but he had to postpone it to the week after because we were very likely to be in the hospital the next day... He even came home early from work that day because he couldn't focus on his work. But he did have a group meeting scheduled that night to prepare for the presentation at 8 pm. After having dinner, we decided to go to BYU campus with Joe because Alden had been sitting at home all day. So we wanted him to get out and be able to run around a little. We also put the basket of library books so we could return those to the library. There was little chance that we would have had to go to the hospital that night, so we packed our hospital bag in the car.

Well, while we were busy packing, I started having cramps. I had been having false labor, and I just figured they were cramps from running around and trying to pack. Well, they didn't go away and they just kept coming in regular intervals. I kept glancing at the clock while I was packing, and noticed that they were about 6-7 minutes apart. I still didn't think I was going into real labor because I thought real labor was supposed to start really slow! I mean, they tell you to relax and wait and count the contractions for an hour or two. I thought I was supposed to start having them like 20 minutes apart and have time to shower and maybe even take a bath..

Anyway, we proceeded to drive to BYU, and on the contractions were now about 5 minutes apart. We kept driving to Campus and went to the Tanner building where Joe was having his group meeting. He started having his meeting, and Alden and I went around the building once, throwing a ball and running down the hall to pick it up again. By the time we had gone around the whole building once, the contractions were 4 minutes apart, and I decided it was really time to go. Joe had to leave his meeting early (he had been there about 10 minutes), and we drove straight to the hospital.

We got there around 8:30 pm, and a nurse came and checked me and told me that I was at 7 cm already. As soon as she told everyone I was at 7 cm, we noticed that everyone started running around and prepping me. The anesthesiologist was in the room in 3 minutes or so and got started on giving me the epidural right away. The nurses called my doctor, and he called the hospital twice on his way over to make sure I hadn't delivered yet.

We were kinda hoping that Ellie would be a December baby, but the nurses and the doctors told us that we had no chance. :P Well, I started pushing around 9:30, and at 9:43 pm, Eleen was born! She was 19.5 inches and 7 lbs 6 oz. All in all, the whole labor only lasted for about 2 hours, and we barely made it to the hospital in time for me to get the epidural.

The next two days at the hospital were full of adventures, talking to financial office and stuff, but I'll save that story for later. (Right now, I'm really distracted because Joe and Al are playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii).

My family made it to the hospital very quickly, and my brother and sister-in-law watched Alden in the waiting room until Ellie was born.