She’s Here!

Hello, Friends!

Please help me welcome my new little sweetie!  She was one week old yesterday.

Born Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 at 10:07 pm.  7 lbs, 5 oz, 19 1/2″ long.

I was so blessed in this labor and delivery process!  It couldn’t have been better (in this fallen world, anyhow!)!  Furthermore, our transition at home has thus far been seamless.  I mean, God couldn’t have given me more peace.  Seeing this miracle of life makes my heart overwhelmed with worship to Him!  And when I see His complete faithfulness to me as I trust Him in faith, I am compelled to worship  Him even more.

My story…

All day on Thursday, January 3rd I had been pretty active with Braxton Hicks.  About 2 pm, though, things got deeper and I began to recognize it as pre-labor.  I was about to gear up and get my big kids from school, so I couldn’t actually sit down and time the contractions officially…although I did know they were pretty close together.  I wanted a coffee from Starbucks because I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket!  (Some hearing this in my story got tickled that I was in labor but stopped long enough to get a Starbucks.  Coffee, coffee, coffee, java, java, java!)  I got my 18-month old loaded up in the car and off we went for coffee and big kid pick up.  On the way, I called my OB office, explained everything and asked if I could come in and get checked before they closed.  Then I called mom and asked if she could cover the kids while I went to the OB.

We all rendezvoused at the OB office.  The nurse said I was between 4-5.  “Why don’t you go home or go do something then come back in about an hour and let’s check you again?  That’ll also give you a chance to time the contractions officially.  If you have progressed any more, then we’ll know whether or not we need to send you up to the hospital yet or not.”  So, I went to mom’s house for an hour, still having deep contractions, 5-7 minutes apart.  At 5 we popped back up to the OB office–still between 4-5cm.  (Oh, I forgot to mention that my OB was out-of-town til Monday.  I was really hoping to hold off and wait for him!)  So, my OB’s new associate basically said that, because this wasn’t my first rodeo, I could choose to either go home and see what happens or I could go on up to the hospital–my choice.  I wanted to go home and get things in order with my family, just in case this was the real deal.

So, my husband picked up some dinner and we all had family time.  (We didn’t really mention to the big kids that we thought this was the day…didn’t want to disappoint, you know.)  We got everyone in bed by 7:30 and we hopped in bed by 7:45 or so, hoping to get a few winks just in case we were up all night.  Well…at 8 pm I nudged my husband and said, “WE’VE GOTTA GO.”  To this he hopped out of bed and said “I still have my clothes on!” (Speaking like George Banks off of Father of the Bride 2.)  We called our beloved babysitter to come stay with our 3 sleeping children.  She got to us around 8:35/40.  We were in the truck and off to the hospital!

At 9 pm we checked in, the nurses were completely ready for me and my OB’s associate was there waiting already!  At 9:30 he broke my water.  Boy, things picked up after that!  I pushed 3 times and at 10:07 pm, my newest baby daughter was born!

My OB’s associate was awesome.  I really appreciated how he handled everything!  I’m so glad God gave me a peace to trust him because he really did a great job.

It was such a special, beautiful time.  And something to make it even sweeter: my mom got to be with me this time.  Usually I’m very private about all this.  But mom was in the room with us as I progressed so quickly.  She moved to leave when the action picked up and my husband called her name and stopped her.  Then he leaned to my bedside and said, “Do you want your mom to stay?” “YES!  I would love that. Yes!”  So, mom witnessed her fourth grand baby being born.  That is such a neat thing for me.

I was able to have my second successful–very peaceful–VBAC!

As we’ve come home, things really have been beautiful.  Our big kids just went through this transition 18 months ago, so they’re professionals.  They haven’t had even one hiccup.  My 18 month old has transitioned perfectly well too!  She hasn’t had one moment of jealousy or anything.  She was feeling a little insecure when I was at the hospital and cried maybe a little more than normal.  But we are pals and have never been apart that long.  Once we got back home and in our element, she was thrilled and back to normal.

After our first night home with the new baby, our little 18 month old woke to find mommy and the new baby.  Her face was precious–her expression was like “Oh yeah! I forgot!!  There she is–there’s MY BABY!”  She motioned for Daddy to bring her over to us.  She kept whispering “Ohhh….Ohhhh….bee bee” while tenderly patting her new sister on the back.  As far as she’s concerned, this baby is hers.

My one big thing I was trusting the Lord for in this birth was that my family would be healthy.  Before the baby came, there were a couple sick days.  But the day she was born and the days after…we were all healthy.

God is good, everyone!

Think on these things…

Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”