Our little miracle has arrived

http://animoto.com/play/m331b9D201dj6bjS50echA

Our little miracle is here. She was born July 5, 2011 at 4:12 p.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 13.5 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long (not exactly the small baby I was told she was, especially considering she was 4 weeks early).

The night before (Independence Day), we had dinner at my mother-in-laws. It was sooooooo good, and I ate until I was miserable. I had been having contractions all day and was in full nesting mode. The contractions were about 10 minutes apart and not too painful. But, even so, I had spent the day cleaning light fixtures, ironing, cleaning the blinds, etc. You know, all those things Annie was going to notice as soon as she arrived home. Hahah! I also decided that I should pack my hospital bag! Glad I did that!

When we got back home from eating at Karen's, I was trying to finish up homework for my EDS class, which was scheduled for Saturday, the 9th. But, I couldn't hold my eyes open. I was so tired. I ended up going to bed quite early that evening and told Jamie I couldn't wait for Annie to arrive. The next morning, I got up about 8 o'clock. I was halfway to the bathroom when my water broke. It was at that moment it hit me that I wasn't quite ready. :) I had a dr. appointment with Erlanger scheduled for 10:30. I called Nona (my dr. from Erlanger) to find out if I should come see her or go see my OB, and she told me to go see Dr. Davis. So, I arrived at his office at 10:30. He checked me and said it was definitely amniotic fluid and told me I was dilated to a 4, and that we would definitely be having a baby that day. I was admitted to the hospital around 11 and Annie arrived at 4:12. It all happened quite fast!

In the delivery room, I was very blessed to have a dear friend, Heather Dickey Bresch, in the delivery room with me as my nurse. Of course, Jamie was there. My college roomie, Sarah, was also with me. Sarah is a professional photographer, and she is interested in getting into birth photography, so it was a great opportunity for her to practice and decide if that is really something she wants to do ;). (After the fact, I assured her husband I would talk her back into having children one of these days). Above is the video she made of the day! It's not gross, I promise. As a matter of fact, when we first discussed "birth photography" I was very skeptical until she assured me it was only capturing the sweetness of the day. And, she did exactly that. She is insanely talented and I'm blessed to have had her be part of the birth of our miracle.

As for the delivery itself, I did have an epidural, only it didn't work. BUMMER! So, I got to experience it the good ol fashioned way! :) I only had to push for about 20 minutes, but during that time, Annie's heart rate started to drop and so there was a few moments of panic. The heart rate drop was because the cord was tightly wrapped around her neck twice, but once she was far enough out, Dr. Davis was able to cut it, which helped matters alot! Annie had to go immediately to the nursery for oxygen because her breathing was distressed, so I didn't get to hold her, only kiss her before they took her away. Thankfully, Jamie was able to go with her. One bright spot to the epidural not working was that I was able to get up fairly quickly and go to the nursery myself. Once I got the nursery, I was overwhelmed with love for our little angel. And, holding her for the first time was one of the most memorable and emotional experiences of my life. We were already head over heels in love!

Because she was four weeks early, and her heart rate and breathing were not ideal, they decided to take Annie to Erlanger that evening. I'll share more about that in my next post. But, God is so good, and we are so blessed to have her here!