Meeting sweet Eisley

 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!!