Ella Marie . . . Birth Story

Ella Marie Hautala
7lbs 6.7oz
19.5 inches
Born Saturday, March 7, 10:53pm


At long last . . . my daughter is finally in my arms!

What a tremendous journey this has been. Nine months of pregnancy culminated in the arrival of such a tiny person—but with her comes such joy!

While I truly believe I have been laboring for the past several months (preterm labor, bed rest, weeks of contractions) the true and actual event began abruptly on Saturday afternoon, March 7th, at about 5pm. Saturday began as every other prior to it had, save that I had the delightful treat of my Mom's company for the day. We played with Caleb, caught up, and ended the afternoon with a nice long walk. The temps were fairly decent, and so with Caleb bundled up in the stroller, we walked to town, stopped at the post office, and on our way home stopped for coffee and a cookie at the local coffee shop.

Mom gifted Aaron and I with a night sans Caleb, and she took the little man back to the cabin with her, saying as she kissed me goodbye, "Well, now you are free to have this baby. I am here, Caleb is comfortable, and you and Aaron have the whole weekend."
She was right.

After she left, I took another walk, wistfully hoping it would get things going for real. I'd been having contractions pretty consistently for most of the day, but that wasn't really anything new . . . and I fully expected them to taper off shortly after I finished my walk. But this time, I was delightedly wrong. As I rounded my last lap around the park, the twinges I had been feeling were very quickly progressing to real pain, and while I was quite uncomfortable, the thought of real labor didn't actually register until I got home and began timing contractions—Aaron hovering nearby in the kitchen as I announced astonished through clenched teeth, "I'm in labor, praise the Lord!"

After calling my family and a few close friends who had long been praying for me, Aaron and I packed up the car and headed to the hospital. It wasn't until we were nearly ready to go, that I realized how painful and how close together my contractions were coming. "We need to go." I said to my already-rushing husband."We need to go now." And we did, making good time.

Labor with Caleb had been a marathon. Long, intensive, strenuous—23+ hours. Labor with this child was a sprint. Very intense, and pretty quick. By the time I was dressed in my hospital issued attire, hooked up to an iv, and not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of the anesthesiologist to administer an epidural, I was dilated to a 7—only three centimeters left to go! My room seemed full of nurses . . . every one was rushing about and all the standard baby-welcoming equipment quickly filled up my room.

Once my epidural was in place, I was finally able to relax and breathe at a normal rate—feeling came back into my hands and feet that were suffering from lack of oxygen, and both Aaron and I looked at one another in amazement. "This is going really fast!" I said astonished. He agreed.

By 10:15pm Saturday evening, I was ready and my doctor told me I could push at any time. I was shocked. "Really?" I asked. She nodded and so I got to work. Thirty minutes later, my beautiful, perfect daughter made her way into this world—and changed mine forever.

It only took one look at her and I was utterly in love. My doctor placed her on my chest and immediately her wails ceased and she looked up at me with wide eyes, listening as I crooned over her.

Everyone told me when I was pregnant with Caleb that having a baby changes everything. Of course. And Caleb's presence in my life has been the sweetest gift. His brilliant and intense personality daily lights up my world. And now, having a daughter has changed everything yet again. A dear friend of mine told me—somewhat prophetically I believe, looking back—that having this child would be healing for me. And now, even though she has been in my life only a mere three days, I can testify to that reality. Her mellow nature, her desire to be near me, the way she is drawn to the sound of my voice, that she has her Daddy utterly wrapped around her finger . . . for all of these reasons and the thousands more to come . . . this daughter, this child, is a gift beyond measure, and my heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness.