Our New Little Angel

Awestruck. Grateful. Amazed. Thankful. I am experiencing all these emotions and more as I look at the sweet face of our newest miracle from God. Matthew and I welcomed Juliet Hope into our family on Thursday night. She is a beautiful, sweet, precious baby and so far seems to have a calm, peaceful demeanor (I hope I won't regret saying that later).

On Thursday, I wasn't feeling like myself, actually wondered if I might be getting the flu. I went ahead and took the kids to BSF, returned home, ate lunch and then all three of us laid down for naps. At 2:15pm, I had a contraction (nothing to get too excited about as I've been having 5-6 contractions a day for the last two weeks). When more came at 3:00, 3:15 and 3:30, I called Matthew to say I thought I might call my OB's office so they could examine me to check if I had dilated. Thursday afternoons are also when Philip and Braewyn go for their tumbling and ballet classes respectively. We decided that I could let Braewyn play with our neighbor Anna before both girls went to ballet (Anna's mom Leigh would take them), I would take Philip as his class begins 30 minutes before Braewyn's, and then drive myself to the OB office. Leigh would bring the kids home from their activities.

When I called the OB, I was told it would be too close to 5:00pm to come in so I should go to the hospital instead. Driving myself to the hospital was a little nervewracking but I was just hoping and praying that this was the real deal even though that thought scared me a bit too.

Upon arriving in the Labor & Delivery area, the nurse declared me to be dilated to 4 cm but after giving this info to my doctor, she told me that he thought my contractions were not regular enough to admit me. She asked if I felt like walking and I said that yes, I'd do that before just leaving the hospital to go home. I began walking through the hospital but not wanting to get lost, I asked a nurse I was passing if there was a loop or track I could follow through the hospital. She led me to the employee workout room and said I could use the treadmill. That's a new twist -- working out just prior to giving birth!

With two kids already, the details of possibly having the third began to mount. My dad was now at the hospital looking for me to get my car key to get Philip's carseat out to take to Leigh's house to drive Philip and Braewyn back to my parents' house! I also would tell my dad to give our spare house key to Leigh so they could let Chloe out to potty later that night. A lot easier having the first child and no dog than all this.

Any way after getting back to L&D, the nurse said I was now at 5 cm and the doctor would admit me. Matthew arrived around 6:45pm after returning home to change clothes and let Chloe out. Around 7:30pm, my doctor said he wanted to break my water to help things progress. I asked how soon after that would I get an epidural. My nurse jumped in and told the doctor that we would like the epidural first and then he could break my water. Yeah, nurse! I was scared that breaking my water would progress things too quickly and I might miss the opportunity for the epidural.

The next few hours included getting the epidural, praying that it would work, having my water broken, feeling A LOT of pressure, reaching 8 cm, catching a short nap, feeling even more pressure and arriving fully dilated at 10:15pm. I began to push and felt great anxiety about if I could get through it or not. I kept thinking of Isaiah 41 which we studied in BSF last week. The Lord will strengthen me. He will uphold me with His righteous right hand. Be still and know that He is God. After 14 minutes of pushing (about 4 contractions), the doctor helped our beautiful third child enter the world. Matthew and I saw at the same moment that we had a little girl, Juliet Hope!

Overall, it was a routine and relatively quick delivery. I praise Jesus for no complications and a healthy 7 lbs, 3 oz little girl. We've enjoyed our hospital stay (room service!) and getting to know Juliet. She was such a sleepy girl at first that she actually didn't eat until Friday afternoon! Since then, we've worked hard at learning how to breastfeed (me remembering how it hurts those first several days and Juliet realizing that she has to open her mouth to eat!). Between her sleepy, calm nature and my higher level of confidence this time, I'm actually enjoying this little vacation away from home very much. We'll be discharged from the hospital in a few hours after spending the last three nights here. It will be nice to return home and settle in together as a family of five. I've also missed having Philip and Braewyn with me but they've enjoyed some great, quality grandparent time this weekend.