If you’re just catching up, you can read Part I of our story here…This is the story of our daughter, Elodie Mason, born too soon…

As we made our way to L&D, I knew deep down that we wouldn’t be leaving. The contractions were 3-4 min apart and there were other signs that this was not going to end well. I was praying that the Lord would prove me wrong and stop the contractions and that he would give her more time…

The sweetest nurse met us in the room where I would ultimately deliver. She got me hooked to monitors and asked the standard gazillion questions. Sweet Elodie was moving like crazy and the contractions were indeed real at 3-4 min apart. She answered my questions and prepared all the things she knew the doctor would need.

Mason stepped out of the room and the doctor came in shortly after he walked out, she immediately did an ultrasound and was very quiet. She didn’t say anything until I asked her what she saw…she said she could see that the bag of waters were exposed and that I was dilated. She wanted to check me to see by how much…as soon as she checked me, she said the bag of water was right there and that I was already 4 cm…she then said, “I’m so sorry but you will inevitably deliver.” I burst into tears and Mason walked back into the room. The look on his face when he saw me was horrifying…he knew.

I wasn’t able to fully process what the doctor was saying, but she was incredibly sweet and she sat there with me, held my hands and told me how sorry she was. She answered all my crazy question…”Can’t I just be bed ridden for weeks to keep her in there?” I also knew that the only way anything would change what was happening would be to stop my contractions, but I knew they weren’t going to. They started an IV to hydrate me and also medication me to try to stop them (they even gave me two doses) – they were going to give me demerol, but the doctor came back shortly after submitting the order and asked if I’d prefer an epidural. She said that the demerol would make me loopy, but she wanted me to be present during the delivery so I could remember…

The contractions we horrendous, but then I would feel my sweet girl move and kick. But I needed relief…the pain in my heart and the contractions were too much to bear. My sister and her fiancé came right over and at this time it was around 6:30am…Mind you we were just one week away from their wedding! It was just all too much to take in. All I could say to her was, “I’m so sorry!” I didn’t want to ruin or impact the happiest day of her life with what I knew was about to happen. She asked me what she could do and the first thing I thought of was that I needed to remember. I asked her to call our friend who is a photographer to come and capture Elodie’s birth and every inch of her so I could remember…her lips and cheeks and feet and ears…and I’m so, so, SO happy we did that and that she was willing be there for us. These are photos that I will cherish my entire life until I see her again…