the day of her birth

on march 14, adam and i started our day in worship and then serving our sweet kindergarten kiddos. then we came home to finish preparing our house for the arrival of our baby girl. we went to bed early and snuggled and prayed and didn't sleep tons, but more than we thought we would.

on the morning of march 15, we woke up early and got ready quickly. we were at the hospital by 7:10 (we didn't have to be there until 7:30 :)). our awesome nurse began preparations. they gave me my iv, catheter, and shaved my belly where the incision would be. then we waited. mom, dad and lara all came in to visit. then mark, sally, amanda, and cory. then i got super nauseous and weird feeling, so mom and dad came back in. before we knew it, our nurse and anesthesiologist came in and said it was time to head to surgery. it went so fast! as soon as we got into the operating room, the anesthesiologist did his thing. i was terrified of the spinal, but he was phenomenal! i didn't feel a thing and the spinal took effect IMMEDIATELY! they pinned up the blue curtain and doctor davis came in. they told me that dr. d was pinching me pretty hard and i wasn't moving and that was a good thing! then dr. d got to work. shortly after, they let adam come into the room. he came immediately to my side and held my hand and talked to me through the whole thing. as the team progressed further into surgery, we heard them say "there's a butt and that's a big butt!" then they said "there's a leg!" finally we heard "we've got a head!" and then we heard sweet bella joy's first cry!! we looked at each other and smiled and cried. finally doctor davis brought our baby girl over and we saw her for the first time.
we looked at each other and smiled and cried some more. they had adam come over and watch them clean her up a little and then handed her to him. he brought her over to me and unstrapped my arm. we looked at her, i touched her for the first time, and we smiled and cried some more. eventually they took my husband and baby girl away from me and finished the surgery. then they made me go to recovery for a whole hour!

when i was in recovery, i remember not being able to feel my legs. i kept trying so hard to move them and when i couldn't, i just laughed to myself. i think they recovery room staff probably thought i was crazy :)! after my hour in recovery was over, some kid came and handed me two photos of bella and wheeled me down the hall. i saw the whole clan standing waiting for me and they followed me to our room. i finally got to hold my baby girl for the first time. we did skin to skin and i nursed her for the first time. it was so surreal. this sweet baby that i had been dreaming about for the 9 months that i carried her, and even before that, was finally here and in my arms.

our God is so good. adam and i are so thankful that he chose us to be bella's momma and daddy. it already isn't easy, but boy is it worth it! even when she screams for 6 hours straight for no apparent reason, we are praising Jesus for her.

there is more to come on our first days home.