Welcome Elliott Dee!

I finished writing the last blog post and then went to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night I started having some cramping pains. It was enough that I noticed and remembered them, but not enough to fully wake up and get out of bed, or to look at a clock and time them. Chris had to be at work early and I was still asleep when he left, so I didn't even tell him about these little pains I was having all night. I got up and took a shower. It was in the shower that I realized that this pain came and went, twice while I was in the shower. I started to think that this must be what the beginning of labor feels like. I even googled "what do contractions feel like" and everything I read sounded exactly like what I was feeling. You would think that I wouldn't have to google "contractions" with my 3rd child, but I never felt labor with Wes until I was in the final stages and I never got the chance to start with Nate. I sent Chris a text letting him know that today just might be the day and went on with my day. I took Wes to preschool and then headed to my regularly scheduled Dr. visit, all the while having small rhythmic pains. I explained to Dr. Snell what I was feeling and she said it could be the start of labor or it could be nothing. She checked me and I was dilated to about a 5 or 6! She said I could probably just hang around the area (which is near the hospital) and walk, but I had Nate with me and had to pick Wes up from school. I called Chris to let him know he should probably head home soon, I called my mom to have her meet me at our house after I picked Wes up and I called Papa to put him on alert for watching the boys. Now, I started timing the contractions. They were getting stronger and closer together, but they still weren't really regular. I picked Wes up from school and met my mom at our house. We decided to go get some fast food for lunch and bring it home because I wasn't feeling like making anything. We picked up Chick-fil-a and McDonalds and Mom told the lady at McDonalds, "my daughter's in labor!", the lady looked concerned and asked if I should be driving. Haha! I still didn't feel that bad yet. We went home and ate lunch while I made some last minute plans and phone calls, all the while the contractions were getting longer, stronger and closer together. Chris came home and we started getting everything together for the hospital and for the boys to go to Papa's. I was having more and more pain and started to panic a little during the contractions that I wasn't at the hospital. That's when I decided it was probably time to actually head to the hospital. Papa came to pick up the boys and Mom called Linde to meet us there. I was still feeling perfectly fine and calm in between contractions and worried we were going to the hospital too soon, then another contraction would come (about 4 minutes apart now) and I would think we need to get to the hospital NOW!

I was able to walk in to the hospital on my own, stopping every few feet to breathe through a contraction. The nurses didn't seem at all panicked or concerned about getting me back to a room right away (as they were when I came in to have Wes), so I must not have looked like I was in that much pain. They got me back and in to triage where they found out that I was 7cm dilated. I couldn't believe that all those little tiny contractions took me from a 1 to a 6 and all those hard, painful ones only got me from a 6 to a 7. My water also was not breaking and the baby was still sitting high. All the nurses took guesses as to the baby's sex and thought I was crazy for not getting an epidural. They also said that Chris and I were the only normal people they had that day. I guess they must have had some real doozies, to call us normal.

By the time they admitted me and gave me a room it was about 3:30 or 4pm. They had me all hooked up to monitors because I was doing a VBAC and they have to constantly monitor the baby. I laid in the bed and breathed through contraction after contraction. My mom would watch the monitor and let me know when the contraction was on it's way down and when another one was coming. After a little bit, the nurse checked me and I was at an 8, but my water hadn't broke and the baby was still high. She said she would take me off the monitor for a half hour so that I could walk around.

There wasn't so much walking going on as there was shuffling towards my mom and back to the bed just in time to lean into the bed and grimace through another contraction. I was having pretty intense back labor and was thankful that I had thrown a little wooden hand massager in my bag that Chris was able to use to put counter pressure on my lower back.

Soon, I was getting too tired to stand and laid back down on the bed to ride out the contractions. The next thing I knew, my body was pushing. I was not pushing but my body was! I painfully muttered, "pushing" and Linde quickly asked if she should get the nurse. The nurse came in and checked me. I was fully dilated and my water broke when she checked me. UhOh...somebody call the doctor! Lou Lou came in right then and the nurse asked if I could wait for the doctor. I was able to breathe through quite a few more contractions until the pushing started happening again. She asked if I wanted the doctor on call instead and I knew we had to get someone in quickly or the nurse would be delivering the baby. Just then, my doctor swooped in, took the bed apart, got me in the stirrups and told me to push. I gave one big, long, screaming, painful push and out came the baby! Dr. Snell held the baby up without announcing the sex and turned her towards me. HER!!!! I really couldn't believe it...A GIRL!
Elliott Dee Dinoffria

10-8-10 at 6:10pm

8lb 13oz - 21 1/4 inches

The first thing I thought and said was, "She's sooooo cute!". I was instantly in love. I looked up and Chris was crying. She was only seconds old and already had her Daddy wrapped around her little finger.
Lou Lou already had Liz on the phone and put the phone to my ear. Ellie was crying her very first cries and I said to Liz, "Can you hear your neice?". All I heard was an ear piercing scream on the other end of the phone. Liz was obviously as excited as we were that Lucy now has a little girl cousin to grow up with.
Ellie was my first baby that I got to hold as soon as they were born. Wes had to be taken away immediately because of meconium and Nate was a c-section, so it was kind of nice to get to experience snuggling her right away. Soon, they took her for all the necessary checks and measurements. She was almost the same exact size as Wesley and born 2 days before her due date just like him also. Makes me wonder if Nate would have been the same way.
While they were measuring her, my mom came over to me, with tears in her eyes, and said, "I'm so happy you got a girl because I don't know what I would do without you". I hadn't cried yet, but leave it to my mom to make me turn on the water works. That was such a sweet thing to say, I will never forget it.
I felt like I was going to have another boy and was at peace with that possibility. I really believe that God gives you the children that you are supposed to raise and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be their Mommy. The only reason I wanted for a girl is because of the special relationship I have with my Mom and I feel very lucky to have that opportunity now with my own daughter...and oh yeah, the little girl swimsuits.


Soon, Papa brought Wes and Nate to the hospital to meet their new little sister.

Wes was over the moon that the baby was a girl, just like he said. He told me over and over, "Mommy, I knew the whole time that she was a girl!". Nate wasn't sure what to think and really just wanted to snuggle Mommy, which was perfectly fine with me.
Wow! I can't believe that I am now a Mommy to 3 beautiful children and we are a new family of 5!