Oh
my goodness - these last twelve days have just flown by. We are soaking
up every single millisecond with this baby girl because I know I will
blink and she will be five years old. I'm still in shock that she's
really here!
On Tuesday, December 22nd, I had a
doctor's appointment in the morning. I'd been having random contractions
for a few weeks and occasionally they would regulate for a little bit,
but then they would always stop or slow down. When I got to the office, I
was having contractions ever five or six minutes, but they weren't
painful and they weren't very strong or regular. My doctor told me to
give him a call if they got closer together or more painful and sent us
home.
We did a few errands, put the kids in bed for
naps and around 3:30, I started noticing that the contractions were
quite a bit stronger and coming more frequently. I timed them and they
were every three to four minutes. I called my doctor and he told me to
keep monitoring them and if they continued to call him right back.
At
7:00, I was having strong contractions every two minutes and we called
my doctor back and he told us to meet him at Triage. We spent the little
bit packing like crazy people, because we were not expecting her to
come this early!! ;) We met my parents and gave them the boys and headed
to the hospital. I still didn't really believe she was coming - I
figured they would tell me it was all in my head and to go home. Jon and
I got in the elevator and I was unconsciously rocking back and forth
during one of the contractions and he grinned and said, "yeah, we're
having this baby tonight."
By the time we got checked
into Triage about 8:30 or so, I was dilating and the contractions were
very steady every one and a half minutes and were peaking well past the
gridlines on the monitors. Eisley's heartbeat was perfect! My doctor
came in, grinned at me and told me that we were about to meet our baby
girl. Which is when I started crying. ;)
Time went by
so so quickly! Since both of the boys were c-sections, I didn't really
get an option with Eisley, even though I had started dilating. So, one
minute I was getting checked and the next, I was walking to the
operating room and kissing Jon goodbye until I got my spinal in place. I
laid there like a nervous wreck and pestered the anesthesiologist with a
million questions until Jon finally arrived back in and I could just
ask him instead.
Time got very slow here. Jon got to
watch as our sweet daughter was born and a minute later, I heard her
start crying. Which made me start crying all over again. She had a ton
of fluid in her lungs and because of that, she didn't score very well on
her oxygen counts at first. A NICU doctor came into check her out and I
spent the longest twenty minutes ever just watching her on the table
across the room as they checked her. They finally announced she was okay
but by then, my doctor was almost done stitching me up, so they decided
to take her to the recovery room and let me hold her there. I got to
kiss her sweet cheeks and talk to her for a few minutes before they took
her away and finished stitching me up. She was crying when they brought
her over but as soon as I started talking to her, she immediately
settled down and just looked at me. My heart was just melting!
Oh
my precious girl! She still wasn't scoring very well in the recovery
room until they put her on my chest and her oxygen counts immediately
spiked. She looked so much like Parker when she was first born with her
little cheeks, but she weighed almost two pounds less than he did when
he was born! Her cheeks are about the only fat she has on her petite
little frame.
I
just held her and studied her and helped her nurse for about two hours
before they moved us to our room. I know exactly how fast these sweet
moments slip away so I don't think I let go of her the entire night. The
nurses kept commenting on how alert I was and how they never saw Eisley
set down. ;)
My
sweet girl. I cannot get enough of her! This is how I spent the entire
first night. I don't think I got more than about 30 minutes of sleep.
Someone
else is pretty taken with his daughter too - this girl was about three
seconds old and she had her daddy completely wrapped around her finger.
Sweet
little love - she has just been the best little baby! We are so
thankful to have her in our arms! Not a moment goes by that I don't
thank Jesus for these precious babies he's given us. We are so, so
blessed!!
Please know that I am continuing to pray for
you, my friend, as many of you are still waiting for your answer from
Jesus. God is good! He has not forgotten you. Much love to you all!!
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