Elisabeth is now 3 weeks old and we are enjoying every minute of her! She has a sweet and calm personality and we feel so lucky to have the opportunity to add another little one to our family!
Elisabeth was born at 4am on Friday morning June 26th. It was 3 weeks ago but I already feel like I can't remember life without Elisabeth! My due date was Tuesday June 23rd and I was 8 days late with Jack so when my due date came and went I was not surprised and I was preparing myself to wait another week or so. Thursday June 25th I planned to hang out with Stefanie all day and just stay busy! It was a rainy day so we hung out at her house in the morning with my mom and let the boys nap. Then we headed to the Family Enrichment Center to let the boys play while the 2 Mamas enjoyed a cup of coffee together! (There I am in the background of this pic looking as relaxed as ever!)
All morning I was feeling a little campy and thought that things might be starting. By noon on Thursday I was pretty sure I would be having a baby sometime before the end of the weekend. By 3:00 PM on Thursday I let Joe know that he should plan to wrap things up at work as I was pretty sure the cramps were actually contractions and at this point they were getting stronger. I still was convincing myself that this was fake so I didn't get my hopes up. Around 4:00 PM Stef and I and the 2 boys took a long hour walk around town and that helped move things along - but still I wasn't convinced (how many babies will it take before you really know labor is starting?)
Here we are on our walk - my last walk as a mother of one!
I cleaned the house and kept busy, stopping for contractions, until Joe got home around 7:00 PM. I still thought at this point we could head out to run a few errands but my contractions were telling me otherwise. Once Joe was home we decided to get our bags packed, the car packed, dinner made and Jack in bed. We called my Mom and Bill to let them know that we would need Bill to come over and spend the night with Jack and my Mom would be hanging out in the hospital with us that night! We told them to take their time coming over as I was hoping to labor at home a bit longer. The contractions were starting to get closer together (3-5ish minutes apart) and they were getting stronger but still manageable. I decided to take a bath, listen to music, light a candle and try and just relax which worked! My Mom and Bill arrived around 9:30PM and Joe and I headed out for a walk in which I continued to have contractions every 2 minutes. At 11:00 PM we decided it was time to head to the hospital!
I arrived at the hospital and was told I was 4cm dilated. I was hoping to be a little further then this but with the strength of the contractions at this point I knew I would do better just being in the hospital. I was more anxious at home about knowing how far dilated I was that its better for me to just be told. My plan was to have this baby naturally and I had decided that if things were progressing at a good pace then I would feel motivated and confident to have this baby without drugs! By midnight I was 5cm and by 1:00 AM I was 6cm. Things were progressing at such a good pace and at this point we had my Mom, Stefanie and my Aunt Lisa arrive at the hospital to be part of the birth! It was so good to see them and have all 3 of those strong women in the room to help keep me motivated!
The rest of my labor was textbook. Each hour I continued to dilate another centimeter, around 3:30AM my water broke and by 3:58 AM Sweet baby Elisabeth was placed in our arms!!
I successfully birthed Elisabeth naturally. I cannot describe it, and it is definitely the hardest thing I have EVER done, but I would in a minute do it again if it means I get another adorable newborn! Joe was fantastic! He is so motivating and encouraging! He carried me through that entire labor and birth (literally at times he was holding my entire body up during contractions and I was falling asleep on him between contractions). A natural birth takes more then the strength of the Mother. A natural birth is about the love, support and strength present in the room with the Mother. My sister, Mom and Aunt Lisa have all had natural births before and knowing that about them gave me the strength to keep going. Knowing that if they could do it I could do it and every time they held my hand or I made eye contact with them I felt their energy become a part of me. I needed each one of them in the room that night that Elisabeth was born. They all played an important role and I will never forget that night!
The picture below is such a beautiful picture because of all the hands in the picture representing the many hands and hearts present in that room and a part of my labor and Elisabeth's story. Elisabeth was born and was already surrounded by so much love! Joe's hands, my Aunt Lisa's hand on my head, My sister Stefanie's hand, My Mom's hand on Elisabeth's head, The doctor's hand supporting Elisabeth, and the nurse that helped deliver her also has her hands on Elisabeth, and of course my hands wrapped tightly around my baby girl!
I also will never forget the way Joe looked at me right after Elisabeth was born and he was handing me our baby girl! He whispered in my ear how much he loved me and how proud he was of my strength. I am so grateful for my husband!
Joe went and picked up Jack on Friday afternoon and brought him to the hospital to meet his sister for the first time! He giggled a lot and it was perfect! Welcome to our family sweet baby girl!
