Miss Elana "Ellie" Lynette Wilkes

On September 4, 2013, Elana Lynette Wilkes entered our world.

The delivery went as well as could be expected.

On September 3, I had an OB appointment.  There I was told I was 3 cm, 90% effaced, but that baby was still pretty high. I wasn't very confident that anything was going to be progressing any time soon, so I just spent the day like any other day.  Emmy and I made it home around 8pm, we got her to bed and Caleb started studying for the quiz he had the next day while I edited some photos. 

We went to bed around midnight and after tossing and turning for an hour, I decided I needed to do more housework and finally got out of bed to work.  That's when the contractions started.  At first they were irregular and didn't hurt, they just felt uncomfortable.  As time progressed, they got stronger and more regular.  By 5am, I decided I should wake Caleb up and let him know that we were going to have a baby today. 

Once I woke him up and he got out of the shower, he started to actually wake up and asking questions.  How bad do they hurt, how far apart are they, what do I need to put in the car...etc?

Once I told him that the contractions were 5 minutes apart, he started to freak out a little.  I was drying my hair and styling it, and taking my time, but daddy was worried and hurried me up.  It was kind of cute.  So, I threw on some clothes, he grabbed Emmy and we piled in the car and sped off.  Emmy was excited too, because she was wide awake when Caleb got her out of bed and was talking up a storm about the baby and going to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was a little over an hour.  On the way, I called my family and texted my friends while Caleb drove 90 miles per hour down I-20.  It could have been the adrenaline, but the contractions got more painful and were 3 minutes apart during our ride.

Finally we arrived at the hospital.  Not long after my family arrived.  Once I got admitted, I was 5cm dilated, but still the contractions were not bad.  They hooked me up to the monitors and started an IV.  The L&D nurse noticed that the baby was having some decelerations and told me to lie on my side.  For some reason the contractions hurt a LOT more while lying on my side, so I decided to start the process to get an epidural.  

By the time the anesthesiologist came to do my epidural, I was 8cm.  After getting the epidural I was able to relax and laugh with my family some.  And hour later, they checked me again.  Still 8cm and baby was still high.  We suspected the epidural calmed my contractions while also making me numb.  We decided to turn the epidural dose down and sit me straight up.  This helped move things along and in no time I was complete and ready to push.

By this time, the epidural had worn off enough that I could feel every contraction.  It wasn't unbearable, but I was definitely ready for this labor to be OVER!

I pushed for 12 minutes.  They put her on my chest and the nurses all shouted at once, "it's a girl!"  

I cried.  Caleb cried.  Elana cried.  It was amazing.  Another beautiful life entered our family and she was just as precious as her sister!  We were overjoyed!

After I got sewn up and Elana got cleaned up, we let our family in the room.  I held Elana as Emmy entered the room and she immediately jumped on the bed and wanted to hold "her baby."   I think it was love at first sight.

 

Now, we are trying to adjust to life at home as a family of FOUR!  Emmy is doing so well with the transition.  Momma, not so much.  I have piles of laundry staring at me and I feel like I'm changing diapers and nursing constantly.  I've forgotten to eat lunch two days in row.  

Ellie is such a good eater and only lost 3 ounces from her birth weight before picking up weight again, and big sister Emmy is such a big help and seems so grown up lately.

I'm hoping to get more accustomed to parenting two little ones, but as I do, I'm going to enjoy the extra cuddles and baby coos.