The stork came eight days early for a Vimy family.
Krystin Barnett and Cody Bogacki welcomed Elissa Marie Rene Bogacki to their family Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. at the Westlock Healthcare Centre. Baby Elissa came in weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
This is the third child for the couple. Elissa joins older brother Ethan, 8, and sister Elexus, 3, a puppy and a few pet birds.
“I have a thing with ‘E’ names,” Krystin said. “Actually, I really wanted a boy and I wanted to name him Eli, but lately with my boyfriend’s family, they’re all having girls. I decided with Elissa to go with Eli, so I just decided to spell it the same way.”
As for the rest of the names, Marie is the middle name of Cody’s sister and Rene was a play on Cody’s middle name Reese.
“My labour was really easy, recovery’s been really simple so that’s good,” she said. “And with her, she’s been really easy. She’s feeding and sleeping well.”
The couple is originally from Manitoba and moved here while Krystin was pregnant with their second child. Now the couple have added a winter baby to their spring and summer babies.
“Our oldest son, he’s really excited,” Krystin said. “He’s excited to hold her but doesn’t like the crying that she does, and my daughter is like her shadow. She’s always watching her or touching her hand or kissing her face. Wherever the baby is, Elexus is.”
With the help of an epidural, the labour was much easier than her last two, Krystin said. She started feeling contractions on New Year’s Eve, but besides not feeling when to push because of the epidural, things went smoothly.
“We were at home and I was starting to feel some pain,” she recalled. “Throughout the day they started getting stronger and so I took my two older kids to my parent’s house. We sat there for a bit until (the contractions) started getting closer. My stepmom came with me to the hospital and as soon as we got there, my contractions completely stopped.”
She decided to then head back home and have a bath, but by the time she got there, the contractions started up again. As contractions came sooner, the couple picked up Krystin’s stepmom again and drove back to the hospital.
They made it just in time for midnight, so Cody kissed Krystin as the clock struck 12.
“It was a pretty easy day, a nice slow day,” she said.
