Joy: A Baby (Bella) Story

I wanted to share briefly about the amazing experience of labor (hint sarcasm :-)). Friday was the night of the opening ceremony for the Olympics. I had taken a shower, like I had for the past week, just in case I did go into labor during the night. Being 8 days over my due date had really finally gotten to me with the acid reflux, really, really bad keratosis pelaris (itchy and hurtful skin condition that became worse during the last few days of pregnancy), swollen feet and legs, the high heat records, etc. I finally just broke down and cried to James and felt like she was never going to come. We prayed about it and lifted it all to the Lord and went to bed around 12:30. I was suddenly woken up at 1:30 with my water breaking - praise the Lord! We got to the hospital around 2:30 and my contractions were starting to get worse. An hour and a half later, they were getting unbearable and the pain level was a 10. I was progressing really fast - a lot faster than the nurses thought I would. They said that I had to finish the first bag of IV fluids before I got it. We had to end up waiting over an hour before it emptied with the pain getting worse by the minute. I asked for the epidural and anesthesiologist got there really late. He finally came in and apologized and said he wanted to make sure someone got a message he sent :-/ He then had to apply and reapply the epidural about 5 times all while I'm having level 10 contractions! Finally the medicine kicked in and both James and I were able to rest, which was really nice since we only had an hour of sleep.

I really started feeling pressure around 11:00 and they checked to see how far I progressed and I was a 10 already! They wanted to try to wait another hour to make sure she was down as far as she could be before pushing. I started pushing a little after noon and Annabella was born at 12:54 weighing 7lbs and 15 oz and was 21 inches long - she's going to be tall like her daddy!

Overall, I am really blessed that Annabella was able to come on her own time and that the labor process went fairly smoothly and well and fast for a first baby! We were also very blessed with a great Dr. and amazing nurses who helped us so much during this time! As soon as Bella came out, they laid her on me and she had her eyes wide open staring at me. It was one of the most precious moments James and I have ever experienced! She stayed this way for the first 24 hours of life and only slept maybe 3 hours! She loves to look at us and us at her. She is an amazingly sweet and happy baby! Her first and last name means "loving grace and joy". We've been praying that she will live up to her name and show love and grace and joy to others and so far, she has :-) Here are a few pics of that memorable day! More pics to come later of her hospital visitors.