January 18, 2011

On January 18, 2011, I met my baby girl for the first time. We went to the hospital at 6:00 am, were in a room by 7:00 am, had my water broken at 8:00 am. Then began the several hours of waiting and watching the monitors.

We waited and waited. My family came in the room and visited for awhile. Scott's family came in and visited. Church friends came and visited. Hours passed...and nothing was happening. Mid afternoon the doctor came in and mentioned the possibility of a C-Secton due to my lack of progress, but he allowed me to labor awhile longer to see if any more progress could be made.

At 4:30 the doctor came back in and explained that my cervix was swelling due to pressure from the baby yet I wasn't making any progress. At this point a natural delivery was out of the question. So we prepared for the C-section. Within the 20 minutes I was being rolled into the operating and and at 5:29, Scott and I became parents. 

It didn't matter what image I had in my head of what my daughter's birth would be like, or that it was nothing like what I had imagined. When I heard her cry, my heart had never been so full. It didn't matter how she got here, God had answered our prayers and she was finally here in our arms. 

While I was being stitched up, the doctor explained that my bone structure wouldn't allow a baby, no matter how small, to pass through the birth canal. God had different plans for my labor and delivery long before I ever considered having children, just like He had different plans for my pregnancy. There is such beauty in knowing that God had this day, this pregnancy, this birth planned from the beginning. 

And y'all, she's beautiful. It's an amazing feeling having your baby placed in your arms for the first time. The recovery was (and still is) painful and long but every time I hold that little girl I realize that precious gift is worth every bit of pain, every hour of lost sleep, and every feeding and nursing frustration. Scott and I are totally in love with our sweet baby and it's amazing that in a short week and a half she's already changed our lives completely. 

And she has red hair like her daddy! :)