On January 31, 2016 we welcomed our third child into this world. At 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I was ready to meet our newest addition. Despite my initial thinking that she would arrive on January 28, Elliana finally made her way into the world. On Saturday evening we attended a neighborhood souper super. We had the opportunity to meet and fellowship with our neighbors. We came home, got the kids to bed, and I laid down on the couch because I was feeling increased pressure in my pelvis and back..but that was also not unusual as Elli had been hanging out down low for about 2 weeks. So I followed my nightly routine and got in the bathtub for some relaxation and reading time.
I got into bed about 11pm and turn out the lights, only to be woken up about an hour later when I felt a pop. A somewhat familiar pop, a pop that felt like my water had broken (at least it felt sort of like it did with Adi), but nothing came out. I waited a few minutes and decided to get back in bed thinking it was nothing. Needless to say about 10 minutes later I started to feel contractions. I texted Ben, who was in the living room just a few feet away (modern day conveniences) to tell him I was having contractions. His response "okay, what do you need me to do.?" So helpful :). Needless to say I was still in a little disbelief, so I tried to roll over and go back to sleep. But just minutes later my contractions had picked up to 6 minutes apart. Finally, Ben came in and I said I think this is it. We got our stuff together in between breathing through those early, shorter contractions. With our stuff ready to go, I told Ben I still wasn't sure. So we hung out on the couch for about another hour and half as the contractions increased in intensity and duration. About 2am, I told him it was time to go. Ben went in to tell my mom, who was sleeping with Eli. And off we went to the hospital.
We arrived at Providence about 2:20 or so. Ben dropped me off and went to park the car. I loved his response when we buzzed to be let in the lobby...Nurse: how can we help you? Ben: We are having a baby! Nurse: Okay come on in. Waiting for him seemed like an eternity. Finally, he returned and we stepped onto the baby express elevator, the elevator with only 2 buttons 1 (Lobby) and 5 (maternity). Apparently this two button thing wasn't self explanatory to Ben, who asked me, what floor? I was laughing inside, but breathing through a contraction so I couldn't say what I wanted to say :). We arrived upstairs where they asked for stupid paperwork and copied our insurance cards, etc. Again, did I mention my contractions were every 3-4 minutes and lasting about 1.5min, so signing paperwork and talking had to be done in very short windows.
We were put in triage where I was asked if my water had broken. I said, I think so, but nothing has come out yet. The nurse checked me and as soon as she pushed up on baby girls head the water gushed out. So apparently my water had broken, but her head was blocking it from coming out. at that point (2:35 or so, I was dilated to 5cm). After we knew that the baby was on her way, we called our awesome midwife Kari and told her the news. I was rolled down to one of the midwife suites. By this point I was moving into transition and my contractions were much more difficult. I adopted some strange rhythmic moaning/humming to cope with the pain--but it worked--okay it made it bearable.
I labored on the bed for a few contractions and then Kari arrived. She asked if I wanted to get into the tub and I said sure. So we filled in up and I was able to get in about 10 minutes later. In the tub I had about 3-4 contractions. All the while I was squeezing Ben's hand and the side of the tub. The water did really seem to help. I was so glad I was able to use this resource since I wasn't able to with Adi. After about the 4th contraction in the tub, I told Ben I felt the urge to push. So in between contractions, Ben and Kari helped me get out of the tub--which was not easy to say the least. At this point, I told Ben, "I don't think I can do this." In his most loving, but honest way Ben said, "You have to, you have no other choice." Not what I wanted to hear, but so true.
I barely made it to the bed where I pushed for about 5 minutes before Elliana Bell made her entrance into the world at 3:38am. She was immediately handed to me and then put on my chest. She had the most beautiful sweet little round head. I remember thinking, gosh she is so little--she must be smaller than the other two. She was alert and ready to check out the world. She quickly latched on and nursed. I was able to hold her for about an hour and a half before they weighed her and gave her a bath. To my surprise she weighed in at a whopping 7lb 13oz and 20.5in long--a good 1.5lb bigger than Eli and 7oz bigger than Adi. She was HUGE! Okay huge by my standards. At this point, Ben and I still hadn't decided on her name. We looked at her and prayed over her, but still God had not given us a clear indication.
All in all, the birth of this beautiful little one was a remarkable one. A very fast and surreal experience and generally much calmer than the other two. At about 6:30 we were finally transferred to a postpartum room. Gigi brought Eli and Adi up to the hospital about 8:30am. The looks on their faces when they saw their baby sister were absolutely priceless. And immediately when we asked them what we should name her, they both said "Elliana"--so we took that as God's confirmation that this was indeed her name. And suddenly we went from a family of four to a family of five. It's hard to imagine life without this new little princess.
