Ellis Rhodes
For anyone who has heard the story of the day this little guy was born you know it was quite the whirlwind. To keep it brief but share with you who haven't already heard.. I was at the hospital because I thought my water might be leaking. Turns out it wasn't. I was having sporadic contractions and was given the option to be induced. My first response was a hard resounding, "YES". More than just being uncomfortable, I was dealing with some intense emotions. Going past your due date can really mess with your head! Anyways, after thinking it over, I finally accepted the fact that baby wasn't coming and as much as I wanted to start the process of labor, I made the decision to head home and wait it out ... let it happen the natural way. No joke, within 3 minutes of coming to that conclusion and finally relinquishing control to God, my water broke. Funny how that happens, right? It felt like I had been kicked from the inside. Within minutes my contractions went from random and completely tolerable to me asking for an epidural. My water broke at 4:15pm. I finished getting my epidural at 5:40, pushed twice and at 6:03pm on July 22nd, our beautiful baby boy was born. It was surreal. There was no build up or time for excitement to arise within us. It was actually somewhat comical. Minus the excruciating pain of going from 4 cm dilated to 10 in an hour which was terrifying. But once it was over and he was in my arms, the world had changed, the pain was gone and we were full of laughter and in shock. Oh happy day!
We didn't find out the sex as the surprise of meeting your baby + finding out if it was a boy or a girl was such a thrilling experience. We had a ton of girls names we agreed upon and very few boys names. So when he arrived, we had a lot of thinking to do. The names we had on our list for a boy just didn't seem to be him or their meaning was something silly. The name Ellis had come to me a few days before he was born so when the time came, I threw that one on the table. While the name 'Ellis' is a westernized version of the Hebrew name 'Elijah' meaning 'the light of God' it had another layer to it.
The world we Americans live in today is a beautiful yet also a sad place. A place where we are free but also a place where we are unwilling to help our neighbors and people in need. We are turning people away who need a safe place and taking children away from their mothers. There was a time when this country offered sanctuary and a new life to our fellow humans. Over 12 million immigrants came through Ellis Island in the 62 years it was operational. Many of us have grandparents or great grandparents that passed through that place. At the end of the famous text of "The New Colossus" located inside the statue of liberty it reads:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
Our choice to name our son 'Ellis Rhodes' is in the hopes that he will live his life providing a safe place for all people. That he will be a light for others, a clearing in the woods ('Rhodes'). That he will stand up to unrighteousness and the wrongful treatment of others. I believe the names we choose for our children have power. And this is one way we can fight back and provide our future generations with the power and strength to do things differently.
- Ashlee
And now for sweet pictures of our guy...
