June 10. A fine day for a birthday.
Here I am, 6 weeks out from having our sweet girl. So many adjustments, so little sleep. As soon as she was born I felt a sense of completion in my soul, a sense of contentment that I've never known. This tiny thing, half of me and half of the person I love most, shifted something in me that I've been longing for.
As I was crawling back in bed from a bathroom break around 12:30am, I promptly yelled "My water just broke!" more out of shock than anything. I had had no signs of labor, and Chris and I had just taken bets the previous evening on when this girl would make her appearance. Chris sat straight up in bed, and then we both started shuffling around, gathering last minute things and tossing them into our bags. I showered and tried to eat a little food, and we got to the hospital around 2:00am. On the way to the hospital, Chris turned down the radio and prayed for the hours ahead (and specifically prayed for a quick labor).
I had my first strong contraction in the parking lot outside of the ER, and we were checked into an L&D room shortly after. I quickly jumped into the deep bathtub and tried to let the warm water relax my body...but if you know anything about back labor you know that this was a short lived strategy. Our precious girl was born at 5:45am, a short 5 hours and 15 minutes from when labor began. I pushed for 45 minutes, and I was blessed to be able to deliver naturally...although my back labor made me think twice! And somewhere during labor I may have been heard saying something about natural labor being for the birds.
As soon as she was born, my doctor put her on my tummy. She was perfect. A head full of hair and sweet blue eyes. She had a health cry and was able to latch before we even left the delivery room. Chris held her without any fear in his eyes, only sweet affection and instant love. He was a natural from the start. In an instant our lives changed, and we were given the most amazing gift of our lives.
I was surprised at how much I blocked everything out, even Chris, during labor. My contractions were so close together that it was a challenge to relax and breathe through each contraction as planned. Chris was a silent support, present and available for whatever I needed. My nurse was precious and helped relieve pressure in my back with each contraction. Everything happened so fast and before we knew it she was born.
We were moved to the mom/baby unit within 2 hours, and we left the hospital the following evening. Our time at the hospital was good. It was a sweet time of figuring each other out and establishing a loose way of doing things. We enjoyed showing her to friends that visited, and we soaked in every cry, wiggle, and poopy diaper. Once we got home we faced the moment I feared the most: walking through the front door realizing that we were on our own with this precious life. But when we walked through the front door and set our hospital gear down, we gently slipped into a new way a living. We began our new normal, and fear wasn't involved. We started a new life with a new addition, and it couldn't have been sweeter.
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This baby that I've been wearing on the inside for 39 weeks is finally here, in my arms, and it couldn't be sweeter.
As I was crawling back in bed from a bathroom break around 12:30am, I promptly yelled "My water just broke!" more out of shock than anything. I had had no signs of labor, and Chris and I had just taken bets the previous evening on when this girl would make her appearance. Chris sat straight up in bed, and then we both started shuffling around, gathering last minute things and tossing them into our bags. I showered and tried to eat a little food, and we got to the hospital around 2:00am. On the way to the hospital, Chris turned down the radio and prayed for the hours ahead (and specifically prayed for a quick labor).
I had my first strong contraction in the parking lot outside of the ER, and we were checked into an L&D room shortly after. I quickly jumped into the deep bathtub and tried to let the warm water relax my body...but if you know anything about back labor you know that this was a short lived strategy. Our precious girl was born at 5:45am, a short 5 hours and 15 minutes from when labor began. I pushed for 45 minutes, and I was blessed to be able to deliver naturally...although my back labor made me think twice! And somewhere during labor I may have been heard saying something about natural labor being for the birds.
As soon as she was born, my doctor put her on my tummy. She was perfect. A head full of hair and sweet blue eyes. She had a health cry and was able to latch before we even left the delivery room. Chris held her without any fear in his eyes, only sweet affection and instant love. He was a natural from the start. In an instant our lives changed, and we were given the most amazing gift of our lives.
I was surprised at how much I blocked everything out, even Chris, during labor. My contractions were so close together that it was a challenge to relax and breathe through each contraction as planned. Chris was a silent support, present and available for whatever I needed. My nurse was precious and helped relieve pressure in my back with each contraction. Everything happened so fast and before we knew it she was born.
We were moved to the mom/baby unit within 2 hours, and we left the hospital the following evening. Our time at the hospital was good. It was a sweet time of figuring each other out and establishing a loose way of doing things. We enjoyed showing her to friends that visited, and we soaked in every cry, wiggle, and poopy diaper. Once we got home we faced the moment I feared the most: walking through the front door realizing that we were on our own with this precious life. But when we walked through the front door and set our hospital gear down, we gently slipped into a new way a living. We began our new normal, and fear wasn't involved. We started a new life with a new addition, and it couldn't have been sweeter.
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Whitney,
ReplyDeleteThis is such an amazing post. There is so much real joy and it is so clear and wonderful to read (and really feel) how you and Chris instantly became parents. I am so lucky to have you as a friend and to have you on speed dial when our first little one arrives -- I only hope I can dive into motherhood as fearlessly and joyfully as you have. Enjoy every single moment with your precious little one! Love to you all!
This made me tear up. So sweet! I'm so happy that things went so naturally and that there's no more fears. Love and contentment speak through your post!
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