Wow... what a 2 weeks it's been. On Tuesday, March 1st, the whole day was weird. I had been having contractions off and on all day, but they were different than the ones I had been having in the past couple of weeks. They felt more intense and, well, different. As the day wore on, I was having a hard time controlling myself during the contractions. We were outside talking to our neighbor and one hit me and I felt like I was going to pass out. I came in the house and Randy followed, by the time he made it in, I could barely stand I was in so much pain. He fed the kids and I tried everything to get comfortable. Nothing helped.
I was getting a little nervous because for the first time in my life, my cervix was not posterior and I was starting (barely) to
dilate. That has NEVER happened, so I decided to call my doctor to see what to do. He called me right back and told me to go to Labor and Delivery and get checked just to make sure everything was
ok.
So, we got my mom and dad to our house and off we went. It was about 9pm and we were planning on just being a couple of hours. Randy hadn't showered from work yet and we didn't think that was a big deal because we were coming right home.
Well, what we didn't know is that I was in labor, real labor and to prevent me from having major complications, we were going to have a baby that night!!!! When the nurse brought in the paperwork and clothing for Randy, I asked, "what is that for?" she said, "we're going to have a baby tonight!!!". I totally started crying. I was NOT ready. We called and got my parents and sisters there and started
texting people to tell them that it was time. It all happened so fast. I hated it. I was scared and nervous and didn't want it to happen this way. Not 3 1/2 weeks early, that's for sure!!!
The spinal went better than ever before but the c-section was a rough one. I had scarred pretty bad with
Cambelle's c-section, so it was tough getting through all of it and Harper was WAY up in my ribs. It was quite a challenge to get her out. For the rough surgery, I would pay the price for WEEKS to come.
I was so relieved when it was announced that she was a girl. I was secretly hoping for a girl and our family felt complete as soon as it was announced!!! 7 pounds 11 ounces 19 1/2 inches long and PERFECT as can be!!!
Because she was so early, she had a hard time breathing on her own. They shipped her off the
NICU right after I got a good look at her. Randy and my mom kept coming in and very calmly telling me that she was
ok, but struggling. I was not worried at all. I knew that everything would work out.
They had to put her on a
CPAP machine to force air into her lungs. Her lungs were sticky because she was early. They couldn't inflate good on their own, so she needed help.
So, here we are, I'm in my room, recovering and we are shuttling back and forth to the
NICU. I never got to have her in my room, but I spent as much time with her as my body could handle. It was not easy, my body was having a rough time. But I had to. I was helping with everything I could. She couldn't nurse at first, so I started pumping until she could. Eventually, she started figuring things out and was on her way!!!
The kids got to go into the
NICU to see their baby sister!!! They couldn't hold her, but they could look at her and touch her!!! I'm not sure this was a good idea, after they left the hospital is when things got really bad for them. They got really home sick and just wanted our family together. Me too.
Look at her hand, smashed up to the crib!!!
The tape really tore up her face, poor baby :( This is her first time wearing real clothes!!! Not bad for hospital clothes, right?
This picture doesn't even begin to show how exhausted we were!!! Randy was running overtime, trying his best to take care of the other kids, get stuff ready for us to come home, deal with a wife that was in extraordinary pain and be there for his new baby girl. It was hard, really hard.
One day, she pulled her
NG tube out!!!! So they left it out!!! GOOD GIRL!!!!
(I was maybe trying to talk her into that!!! Nursing babies do better without the feeding tubes)
After a full 3 days in the hospital and lots of talks with this little girl about what she needs to do to get home, we were on our way!!! It was GREAT!!!! Finally, our baby will be OURS and we get to go home!!!!! Heaven!!!
Here's Randy walking out with Harper and our nurse escorting us!!!
And finally.... home!!!! It was a rough ride, but we are glad to be together and not worry about anything else!!!! She is such a blessing to us and I can't remember being without her. The night we got home, everyone left and it was just us. As we said family prayer, I couldn't control my emotions. She was here and our family was better than ever. It's a feeling I can't explain. I just felt whole. I'm so glad things are going well.
