January 17, 2015:  Jen woke me up around 6am to let me know that she had been having contractions off and on for a few hours.  We laid in bed for awhile, then once we decided this was probably the real deal we activated our gameplan.  With Angie and Josh in town for the weekend, the kids were taken care of.  We got ready for the day, called our doula, and tried to go about a normal morning.  

As the morning progressed Jen was having irregular contractions and we thought she was having trouble focusing with the noise (girls) in the house.  So Angie and Josh took them out on an adventure, and that’s when things got real.

By 12pm contractions were picking up. By 1pm we decided we should start heading to the hospital.  At 1:25pm, shortly after leaving our house, Jen’s water broke on 96th St.  The next hour was an absolute blur from there.  I threw on the hazards and gunned it up I-69, about 90mph the whole way.  We swung into the hospital, got Jen in a wheelchair, and rushed her upstairs. We skipped triage and headed straight into a room. 

And just 17 minutes later, after Jen’s 2nd successful VBAC, we met our 3rd daughter. 

7lbs, 14oz and 20.5” long. Her name is Elliette June Ward.

Elliette means ‘My God has Answered’. We were praying the Lord’s will for our family as we were not initially on the same page about having a 3rd child, but the Lord brought unity to Jen and I. We were also hopeful and prayerful for a 3rd girl!

June is the protectress of women and marriage in Roman mythology. June was a significant month in our marriage. It was a challenging month during Jen’s pregnancy sickness and a time where our love for God and commitment to each other was the only thing to protect us and bring us through the storm.

Due to influenza season, have not been able to have any visitors at the hospital. FaceTime and Skype have allowed us to virtually introduce her to family and friends, but the real hugs and snuggles have to wait.