The other day we drove by Swedish Hospital, where she was born.... and my mind drifted back to that monumental event in our family. It was a day filled with God's love - absolutely no doubt ... and I don't want to ever forget what an amazing day it was!
Onto the "story"... how Ms. A was delivered into our family...
I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, March 5th. I was instructed to wait by the phone and the nurse would call me early that morning. There was a 'chance' we might be pushed to the next day since this was an elective induction at 39 weeks/2 days.
Sunday night I was very nervous. Wondering how would it all play out?? Would I actually be put on the schedule for the next day?? As I slept restlessly ... I thought so much about our baby. Who would this baby be?? Would I be a good mama to them?? Would it be a boy or a girl? I prayed throughout that night.
I woke early Monday morning, but for some reason I was dragging my feet. I didn't shower right away like I'd planned -- just kind of got up and started playing with the girls.... almost assuming we wouldn't be going in that day.
Then - my phone rang. It was the nurse. She instructed me to come in. In an HOUR.
My mind was racing!! I wasn't ready - so I bargained with her for an additional 30 minutes.
It was being silly - I was SO READY, but suddenly I wasn't ready - at all.
Saying goodbye to the 'soon-to-be' big sisters was tough. I was so worried about how it would impact them. How they would likely wonder where I'd gone..... and mostly how the new baby would change their little existence here on earth.
My mom and dad were in town (thank God) so my mom stayed with the girls (making it much easier to leave them) and my dad dropped the hubs and I off at the hospital. The drive felt surreal.. this meant we'd soon be meeting our baby.
Very soon.
We got all checked in - and the {very kind} nurse explained how it would all play out.
Soon after - they started the medicine to get things going.
Time seemed to move pretty quickly the first several hours. Our nurse was basically in the room with us all day monitoring me. The baby was doing well - I was, too. The hubs and I were chatting. He grabbed some lunch at one point -- while I tried to rest.
My brain was not resting, though -- I was very anxious, excited and everything in-between.
About mid-afternoon I started to really feel "the pain".
We discussed getting the epidural. I wasn't sure I was quite ready.... so I waited. We talked about it some more ... but still waited. I knew once I had the drugs - things changed a bit.
But - I finally called for the anesthesiologist to come in. He was successful in putting in the epidural and slowly things went numb and the pain subsided.
The epidural was great for the first few hours. But after awhile I wasn't super keen on feeling SO NUMB....you kind of forget how that feels until it's happening.
Evening drew near - and time started to slow down. The hours were not passing as quickly. Our family was growing restless -- was this baby coming today or not??
I was dilated to about 4cm around 6pm -- things were not moving as fast as I envisioned they would.
As soon as I hit 4cm, though - things very quickly sped up as my doctor predicted.
Around 7:30 or 8pm - my doctor was called to an emergency in the ER and said she'd be back soon.
I was a little nervous, because I REALLY wanted her to deliver our baby. Would she be back in time? She has been such a monumental part of getting me to this point. I desperately wanted her to be part of the grand finale.
The nurse checked me shortly thereafter and sure enough - I was at a 10!
My doctor was still busy -- so we waited .... about 9pm she ran into my room and said she had to go and deliver another women who had been pushing for 4 hours! Oh my -- that poor mama, I thought! We were doing OK (baby too) just hanging out at 10cm dilated -- so they didn't feel a sense of urgency to deliver me before the gal who had been pushing for 4 hours!
I was actually OK with it - because like I said - I REALLY wanted my doctor to deliver our baby.
I wasn't feeling pain, just discomfort from the numbness, but doing fine... and the nurses were monitoring the baby constantly.
If she had gone into distress, there was another doctor on stand-by for me.
Finally ... about 10pm ... my doctor rushed into my room and said she was ready to meet our baby!!
We were too!
The nurses told me to start pushing .... but then quickly stopped me because they said it wasn't going to take long.
My doctor urgently gowned up and literally... TWO little pushes later -- we had our baby..........
"It's a GIRL"!!!!! my doctor exclaimed!! (she had predicted a boy).
We were VERY surprised and VERY happy!!
Another pink -- oh .... our house was now full of girls!!
I was feeling so, so blessed.. it's hard to describe.
You have all the typical worries and in the minutes leading up to meeting her ... your mind and heart are so anxious you feel as though you might burst into a million pieces.
But she was beautiful -- perfect -- and pink!! They took her away for a short time to get her breathing (and crying) a little more, but then brought her back to lie on me. I could not believe the love bursting from my heart. I could not believe how precious and amazing she was. I was trying to soak it all in.
10:24pm -- her actual birth time ... just an hour and half before MY birthday on March 6th.
Our sweet baby was given her own special birthday!!
But, we would be able to celebrate together, forever.... what a fun bond!
The hubs started making phone calls to our family -- I could hear the excitement in everyone's voices ... another perfect, healthy little girl.
And a very proud mommy was snuggling her new baby girl......... and was again reminded the meaning of true, pure innocence only a newborn possesses.
Mama and baby girl.... finally eye to eye.
And, trust me - our love was .... AT FIRST SIGHT.
Cuz I'm the mama!
So cute! I'm so happy for you and your family of pink! Such a great birth story. Thanks for sharing.
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