Before I share Wells’s birth story, I should probably share some back story! This little guy has been with our family forever and it feels like I have always known him. I don’t know how to describe it, but his sweet spirit has been with me for a really long time.

So when we decided to start trying for this little boy, we (I) didn’t really worry about timing because I knew he was always meant to be with us and that he would be here at the perfect time for him. Matt was a little more skeptical because he was in the middle of going back to school to get his MBA and knew that life would be crazy with a newborn!

And of course we were both right haha! My due date was June 24th (Matt’s dad’s birthday) but all of our other kids have been really early so we anticipated him being born sometime in early June. The lease on our house ended on June 30th and Matt’s graduation was May 31st so we had a pretty tight window to have this little guy.

With this being my 5th baby, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t go all the way to my due date. Nellie was 3 weeks early so I was sure we were looking at an early June birthday. I went to the dr in May for a checkup and knew I was having contractions. I was dilated to 4cm and 70% effaced! At that point, I truly thought we would have this baby any day. Every night I would go to bed thinking “this is the night!” so I would time contractions then fall asleep. The next morning I would wake up wondering what happened haha!

I was SO sure he would be born early and quickly like my other kids. But also in the back of my mind, I kind of thought he might be born late!

We went to Matt’s graduation and my contractions started getting way stronger. So we left early and headed to the hospital then checked in only to be sent home a few hours later. I was still only dilated to a 4!

We made a few more trips back and forth to the hospital with the same outcome over the next few weeks 😅 it was insane! I thought for sure I was in labor each time, but nope.

Finally on Father’s Day weekend, we decided to go away for a few days so that Matt could take an important test for a potential job. He studied on Friday and Saturday and planned on taking it on Sunday. We went to bed Saturday night and I promised him that I wasn’t going to go into labor.

The next morning (Father’s Day) we woke up and when I rolled out of bed, my water broke!! (of course it did 😂) so I started freaking out because that has never happened to me and usually my water breaks only moments before the baby is born! Ahh! We rushed to the hospital and got checked in.

I was actually feeling fine and still dilated to a 4 😂 and Matt still had to take his test! So I told him I was good and he went into the room next to me to take it. I decided to try to get an epidural so he wouldn’t need to be there with me during labor. I usually have natural births but thought that if I didn’t feel anything, I wouldn’t need him to help until I was ready to push.

Hah! So while Matt was taking his test, I should have been relaxing and waiting to finish dilating. But instead, my epidural actually didn’t work! The nurse kept offering to go and get him but I did not want him to worry about me! So I just struggled through each contraction (because instead of being allowed to get in the water or move around, I technically still had an epidural so they wouldn’t let me do anything at all) it was kind of the worst! And also – I was still at a 4 after a few hours.

At some point Matt came in to check on me and totally bailed on the rest of his test when he realized what was happening! As soon as he was there, the doctor came in and said that I was dilated to 8cm and should just start trying to push.

(This is probably a good time to warn you not to ever have a baby in Ithaca New York. I had an awful experience with the only OBGYN office there. I mostly saw midwives since I planned on another natural birth but the practice was really terrible all-together. 0 out of 5 stars)

Luckily, once I started pushing, things went really quickly! I remember trying not to push because I was SO angry. I was frustrated that my decision to have an epidural ended up being the worst and I was mad that I didn’t trust myself enough to advocate for what I felt good about. At one point, the nurse told me to push and I yelled “I know how to push, I just don’t want to!” 😅

But really I only pushed twice and there he was! Little Wells! When I saw him for the first time, I actually felt like he looked so different than I thought he would.

Our meeting was so full of joy. There are no words to describe how it felt to see him for the first time. I was completely enamored. I told him how much I loved him, how grateful I was for him to choose me to be his mom, how happy I was that he was a part of our family, and I promised him that I would always try to be my best for him. This moment was more than I ever could have hoped for and I just soaked up every second of it.

Before I got pregnant, I knew his name would be Wells Clyde Hansen. And the moment I met him, I knew that’s who he was. He was born at 5:55pm weighing 8lbs 6oz and 21.5” long at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca New York ❤️ and even though his birth story wasn’t perfect, he surely is!