Sunday, October 7, 2007

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella Claire!!!!




Well, my little girl turned 3 today. Wow! Erick and I talked about how her birth seems light years ago. So much has happened in her 3 tiny years with our family. Thankfully she is a healthy, happy, spirited little girl. Her birth story is a bit crazy. Around 9am I was sure I lost my plug, and went about our day with little Jed, I did a bazillion loads of laundry and the house was clean sort of. We went for a walk around the neighborhood. I actually stopped and chatted with the neighbor who had a 3 week old little girl, and I told her, "I'm pretty sure I'm in labor right now" she looked at me a bit nuts like what was I doing walking around. My contractions were random still at this point. I think we had some lunch, Jed probably napped for a few minutes. I remember calling my friend Steph. We talked a little, then I had a contraction that for me, was the mark for the "real" contractions. It wrapped around my back and belly, and I HAD to get off the phone. An unreasonably short time later, Jed is sitting at the table. I was then on the phone with my sister Lucy. She thought I should be writing them down because I sounded sort of off. Sure enough, 5 minutes apart, lasting 30 - 45 seconds... uh what??? I remember looking at Jed, he was rubbing applesauce in his hair, and I felt a pang of panic, because I knew I couldn't take care of him at that moment. So I called Erick to come home, and the midwife, who had no clue how fast things were going, and I called my mom, to come stay with Jed. If my memory is correct, and who will question a laboring woman, Erick and I were back out the door heading to the hospital around 3pm or just before. I was dilated a 5 when I checked in with the midwife. She didn't know I probably went from a 2 to a 5 in about 2 or 3 hours. She almost missed the birth because she was finishing up seeing patients. We went over to the hospital and Ella was born at... 5:27pm or so. I do forget that exact time. It was a crazy intense rush of pain to have her. Everything was so quick and painful. I had her without medication and I swore I would not do that again! Yikes! But she was a beautiful, easy baby. Perfect in every way. She slept like an angel, and never needed much of anything. What a blessing she was after having sweet Jed. We joke about not really knowing her until she was older because she was always asleep. She learned to walk in our house here in south bend, and well, from that point its been a bit like her labor. A lot of work, intense, and sometimes painful! She is full of happiness and energy, and she is VERY independent. I am happy to say she is mostly potty trained, except at night, and she got a big girl bike for her birthday! She is very affectionate and has a tender heart for babies and little kids. I am glad she is a firecracker, I think she will need that in her future. We LOVE you Ella Claire!

6 comments:

arlsmom aka Lynda said...

Happy Birthday Ella Claire!!!!

Lynda

Sheila said...

Happy Birthday Ella!!! That is a wild delivery!!! And how exciting!!!

Valery said...

What a story!!! Happy birhtday to her! Love the big girl bike!!!

TanishaRenee said...

WOW! Three years flew by pretty quickly, didn't tey?

Stephanie said...

I remember that conversation! Happy late B-day Ella! Does she love her bike?

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Ella. Can't wait to see you guys again.