Number 3 Arrives!

I guess you could say we’re getting to be pros at this birthing thing, but I’m not sure that’s something you can ever master. If you could, surely there would be a way to get over the pain!

I’ve been having contractions off and on for weeks, so a few on Sunday morning didn’t seem like much. I thought as I had been thinking, “Oh, please, come on! I just want to have this baby!” But no such luck. I tried the same trick I had tried when I had contractions with Ethan on a Sunday morning: pilates. That didn’t do anything. I exercise so much when I’m pregnant, all it accomplishes is lulling the baby in my womb to sleep.

We all had breakfast and then got dressed so we could attend the 11 o’clock service at church. (Coming out of Covid, our church is currently holding two services at limited capacity.) I had one contraction during church, I think when our pastor was telling the story of how his first child was born several weeks early after a morning at church, a shower for his wife and then – surprise! – Liam decided to come. I thought of how similar that was to Ethan and wondered again if this baby would come, but I suspected not.

After talking to some friends after church, we headed home for lunch and I got the kids down for a nap. I stretched out on the couch with a book, intending to fall asleep so I’d have energy to grab something to eat that evening and take the kids to a park to celebrate our anniversary. But then I actually started having more than one or two random contractions. And they were about fifteen minutes apart. So, at 3:30 when it was time to get the kids up, I first went to my bedroom where Ed was stretched out on the bed and told him I didn’t think we’d be going out for our anniversary. Instead, we’d be going to the hospital. He jumped up and started packing.

I had intended, then, to text my mom and tell her to leisurely make her way over to our place to get the kids – no rush. Except now the contractions were more like ten minutes apart. So, I called her. By 4:30, I had the kids packed to go, my mom had arrived and off they went, and Ed had loaded the car. I sat on the couch and waited until the contractions were 5 minutes apart, honestly thinking we were doing fine. We headed to the hospital within the next ten minutes. 

Thankfully we didn’t get pulled over getting to the hospital. Ed ignored speed limits and ran a red light. I didn’t think he really needed to rush as I was doing okay, but he was right. We checked in at 4:57. Ellyson arrived 50 minutes later at 5:47.

I will give those nurses credit. I told the first one I had a history of fast births and she believed me. They got me into the delivery room as fast as they could. The doctor arrived soon after. He asked about my other two births, took my word on them, suited up, and waited…because it took most of those 50 minutes to get an IV in me! He joked that he hoped the birth went faster than getting an IV in me.

It did, although it seemed harder than either Emry or Ethan. And maybe it was. Certainly these first days of recovery have been harder! But it was worth it to see our new precious little daughter. We’re so happy she’s here!