He's Finally Here!!

For all of those who don't know, our 4th child, Owen Chance Ellis, joined our family at 1:32 AM on Sept. 27th! He was in a BIG hurry to get here! I woke up feeling my first real contractions shortly after 1 AM and he was born half an hour later! (For the complete story you can go here, trust me, it's worth the read!) He weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz and was 20 inches long. Our biggest baby by almost a pound! He is fitting in very well with our family. All the kids (yes, even Kaylie) love him to pieces! They are always asking if they can hold the baby or touch the baby or kiss the baby. Kaylie calls him "baby Omen" which I think is really adorable, especially in her little helium voice!! :) My recovery is going well. I am currently fighting a UTI, but hopefully once that clears up I will be almost back to normal.

I am feeling very thoughtful the past few days. It's hard to explain my feelings...it's no secret that I pretty much hated being pregnant for the last three months or so, but looking back now, I wish I would have tried to relax and enjoy it just a little more. After all, I'll probably never get that chance again. We are ready to move on to the next stage of our lives, raising and teaching and enjoying our kiddos as they grow, but the baby stage is done now. I am really grateful that we decided to do HypnoBirthing this time around. Owen's birth was such an amazing, spiritual, intimate, empowering experience. I truly wish I could have done that with all of my other babies! I wish I could have experienced this labor/delivery for a little bit longer than I did (32 mins isn't very long to labor!) just to say that I got to use some of the amazing relaxation techniques that I learned and to really take control of my body. I almost feel like I cheated a little bit and didn't have to work for this baby! :) But I wouldn't trade this experience for the world and Owen is such a perfect result! I am having a hard time letting go of this experience. My HypnoBirthing practice schedule is still up on my fridge. I can't bring myself to take down the friendly reminder to relax daily and practice my breathing and to work with my husband regularly to achieve the most favorable outcome possible from this labor. I was so excited to be done...and now I find myself crying because I don't want to let go...(stupid hormones)!

So, the long and short of this post I guess...Through this experience I have learned that I am a strong person and I can do hard things! I birthed a baby on the living room floor! (If you didn't click on the link and read the story, you missed all that!) Owen is a perfect little blessing from a very loving Heavenly Father. I hope I can live up to His trust and expectations by raising a strong little boy, a worthy Missionary, and a caring, devoted husband and father. I hope he turns out to be like his own Dad who stood right by my side through this whole thing. I love you Ben. And I love you too, Owen! I am so excited to get to know you!