The boys are at church and baby girl is sleeping soundly in
the swing and I thought now was a perfect time to sit down and write out her
birth story. I never like to wait too long because it’s so easy to forget every
detail and I don’t want to forget anything about the day my daughter came into
the world.

It was a very early Tuesday morning. I woke up at 4:55am all
on my own and had to laugh a little. I wasn’t able to drink anything past
5:00am and I joked with a friend about waking up five minutes before five so
that I could chug some water so I wouldn’t die of thirst. Well, I guess my body
took me seriously which I am glad it did. Since I wasn’t able to take my
antacid or eat anything my stomach was burning, so I sipped a little gingerale
and that helped me through the morning.

Chad’s parents arrived at 6:15am to watch Jase and we headed
off to the hospital. We prayed on the way there and knew this was going to be a
special day. We checked into the maternity center and they had me sign some
papers and go through my information. Then they checked my vitals and weight
(158 – I gained exactly 30 pounds this time!) and had me wait to be taken
upstairs to the pre-op rooms.

When I got upstairs to the room they had me change into a
fashionable gown. For a scheduled c-section you don’t get those cotton hospital
gowns, they gave me this paper gown that is meant to keep your body the perfect
temperature. If you’re hot it cools you down, if you’re cold it warms you up. Pretty
cool but not very comfortable. Then they come in and get the IV hooked up and
started and now it’s just waiting. The IV had to run for roughly 45 minute
before they could come in and give me an epidural, so we just waited and talked
and played around on the iPad until they came in again. Then the Doctor came in
to give the epidural. It’s a little weird getting the epidural when you feel no
labor pains. I was almost more nervous getting it this time then I was the
first time. I feel like I knew more of what was going on – it still wasn’t
painful, just felt more uncomfortable this time around and I was nervous about
getting it. But everything went smoothly and it began to work pretty quickly.

The nurse warned me that your blood pressure normally drops
when they give the epidural so I was on a monitor that would alert them when it
dropped. Every time it dropped too low she would give me this medicine through
my IV to get it back to a good level. This medicine gave me a headache almost immediately
which wasn’t fun. But it seemed to wear off some by the time I was ready for
surgery. They did all the tests to make sure I was numb and said it was time to
wheel me back. I had all sorts of anxious and excited feelings when they said
that. It is so weird going in to have a scheduled delivery that you know is
happening soon. Different than a scheduled induction where you’re prepared for
hours of labor and who knows when you’ll meet the baby. This was an entirely
different experience. I was prepared to be pushed back a little as active
labors and emergencies were priority, but that didn’t happen at all.

I was wheeled into the OR at exactly 9:15 which was when I
was scheduled for. The doctors and nurses transferred me to the operating
table, got the drape up, and got started. It took the doctor a long time to cut
through my old scar, he kept telling me I healed very well it was making their
job harder. When I went in with Jase I remember it being minutes and he was
out, this felt like a lot longer. I could feel a little bit of tugging, but not
too much. Then at 9:34 I heard the most beautiful sound, the cry of my precious
baby girl. Apparently she didn’t want to come out because the Doctor said, “Come
on, you can’t stay in there now” as he pulled her out which made me laugh a
little. Tears started streaming down my face as I heard her cry. The nurse
brought her right over to me and I said, “Hi baby girl” and she opened her eyes
and looked right at me and instantly stopped crying. I will never forget that
moment. That moment where she knew exactly who her mama was. The nurse was even
shocked she opened her eyes for me already. I got to talk to her, and look at
her face, and brush her cheek and I adored every moment. I didn’t get that with
Jase which was so hard. I didn’t get to hold Elyse right away, but the
practices of this hospital bringing her over to me was the next best thing. It
was perfect.

They then took her and washed her next to the bed where I
could still see everything that was going on. They got her footprints and even
stamped daddy’s hand which was so sweet. Elyse grabbed her daddy’s hand while
she was getting washed up and I knew she already had him right where she wanted
him. They weighed her, a perfect seven pounds even and 19 ¼ inches long. Then
they wrapped her up and let daddy hold her while they were stitching me up. He
sat right next to me and we just admired her.

I hadn’t realized anything that was going on until this
point and I started to feel extremely nauseous. I told the nurse I wasn’t sure
if it was the meds or what they were doing but I thought I was going to throw
up. She glanced over the drape and said it was what they were doing, and got a
towel and puke bucket and set it next to me. I started coughing but couldn’t
throw up anything, maybe because I wasn’t allowed to eat? But I was thankful
for that. And since I couldn’t feel anything below my chest getting sick just
felt like I was coughing while extremely nauseous. So at least it wasn’t bad.
Nurse gave me some Zofran in my IV to help, but it just took time for them to
be done for me to finally feel better.

At this time the doctor told me he was going to do staples
because the dissolving stitches I had last time didn’t heal very well
cosmetically. I was definitely nervous about getting staples because I didn’t
want it to hurt, but I trusted my doctor. So they finished up, transferred me
to the hospital bed and gave Elyse to me. So I admired her all the way to the
recovery room.

Elyse was ready to nurse immediately. While her daddy was
holding her she was looking for food and rooting the entire time. It was so
funny to watch, Chad kept telling her he didn’t have what she was looking for.
They gave her a quick bath and handed her to me to try and nurse. Elyse latched
immediately and it was the most encouraging thing ever because Jase was not the
same experience. I had a really tough beginning to nursing with Jase and I had
been praying this would go much smoother. She was a pro. Came out ready to eat,
latched like a pro, nursed like a pro. It was so relieving.

We were in the recovery room for two hours until they moved
me to the room we would be staying in. Just spent that time soaking up baby
girl until the nurses came in to get me changed and moved.

This experience was beautiful. It was stress free. It went
so smooth. And any doubt or question I had of doing a repeat c-section was immediately
removed. I had a beautiful experience and know that it was God’s perfect entrance
into the world for our baby girl. My healing process has been incredible. I don’t
know if being mentally prepared or well rested from not spending hours in labor
made the difference, but I have done so much better this time around. I was
mobile a lot faster and my emotions have been way better. I have been so surprised
at myself. I am so thankful to amazing doctors and nurses who made this
experience way better than I could have imagined.

There is nothing like having a baby girl. It is so special.
I look at her and I am just completely overwhelmed. I know there is going to be
something special about life with a daughter and I cannot wait to see it
unfold.