the arrival and an anniversary

This last week has been quite the ride. It has been one of the most beautiful and yet the most challenging week of my life, but that's usually how it works, isn't it? Our sweet little Minnie has made it into this world safely and that is all I wanted, no matter how difficult it was on my part. Here's a little run down of our week:

I went into the hospital Friday (August 12) night to be induced. We got there at about 9 PM and the contractions started at about 10. They gave me some sleep medication but it didn't really seem to kick in and I stayed up most the night fighting the contractions.

This is me the next morning, waiting for the doctor.

Waiting for the contractions to increase


The doctor came in at about 10 AM. She told me that Minnie was coming down face-first rather than by the crown of her head. We needed to get her head turned downward before she could make her way into the birth canal. She said that by moving me from side to side every 30 minutes or so, the baby's head would likely adjust. I wasn't dilating very much and they were hopeful that by breaking my water the contractions would increase and move things along. Oh boy, what a crazy day lay ahead for us. As soon as they broke my water Minnie's heart rate dropped to about nothing. Robert and I looked at each other in disbelief. I was so scared. The nurse ran and got me a shot to stop the contractions, hoping that would ease the pressure on the baby. They had me move to a few different positions to see if we could increase her heart rate. The only position that got things back to normal was lying on my right side. Unfortunately, that limited my ability to help get Minnie's head moved into position. After a few more hours of contractions and unsuccessfully moving into different positions the doctor told us Minnie was still in the same place and that my pelvis was too small for her to move through. I was going to have to have a c-section. I was nervous, but mostly I just wanted to get her out and make sure she was safe. The only thing I was really nervous about was the fact that I knew I’d feel claustrophobic having to be tied down to a table and unable to move my body. I started to have a panic attack when the time came to get the deed done and I’m fairly certain the anesthesiologist thought I was a mad woman. I asked Robert to give me a blessing, just as he was stepping into his scrub get up and he pretty much gave it to me as they were wheeling me down to the operating room.

Bob in his scrubbies

The anesthesiologist prepping me for surgery...and me freaking out.

On our way. I was in such a state of panic at this point. Notice it's 6:30 PM. Minnie was born at 6:55 PM.

Robert following me down the hall while the anesthesiologist tries to calm me down.


The anesthesiologist was the dreamiest. He was so good and kind to me and just talked me through the whole thing. He couldn’t give me anything for my anxiety so I ended up kind of just making myself a little delusional. I went into this dream land when I was finally on the table because I couldn’t think about what was going on or I’d lose it. They put a big drape in front of my face so I couldn’t see them cutting into me, but that made me even more claustrophobic. Robert was sitting just to my left, but he was covered in scrubs from head to toe so he didn’t even look like himself. I started shaking and just kept praying and telling myself to be calm. Well, turns out I fell asleep about five minutes into the surgery. Robert didn’t even notice until the doctor asked him if I was snoring. “Looks like someone needed a nap,” they told him. Sure enough, there I was asleep on the operating table. Truly, I believe it was a little miracle. I was so grateful. Only trouble is…I sleep talk more than I thought. Apparently halfway through the surgery I opened my eyes, turned to Robert and asked him “How many people are coming to the party?” What the? The doctor responded “Well we’re all here…so 7 of us I guess.” Hilarious, right? I had no recollection of any of this. Minnie wasn’t breathing on her own when she came out so they had to take her to the special care nursery to get her up and running. Luckily they got her lungs going just fine, but I was pretty much out of it for all of this. Robert followed them as they cleaned her off and weighed her and was able to get a few pictures. My sister Charlotte is also responsible for the best of these pictures.

Here she is (a little messy) at a healthy 7 lbs. 13 oz.

After I woke up and they were sewing me up I asked Robert to show some of the pictures to me because I hadn't seen her yet. Because she was coming down face-first and was being pushed against my pelvis she has a huge bruise on her little nose. Between my delusional state and all the medication I thought it looked like she had a cleft pallet or a misshaped nose or something and got really nervous. Thank goodness it was just a bruise. It has now turned into a scab and is slowly fading.

Here's the proud pop wheeling her down to come see me.

Our first meeting...nothing can describe this feeling.

No matter how difficult all of this seemed at the time, the first time I held this little thing in my arms nothing else mattered. I'd do it a million times over for this little girl. It is hard to believe she is ours.


On the phone with my dad who is in Guam. Wished he could be here but I'm excited for him to meet Minnie next Christmas.


With Uncle Nick

We didn't get pictures of all our visitors, but here are just a few.

Brooke and Jannette

Shelly

George and Miranda

Christine

Lance

Trisha

And now we are home after a three-day stay at the hospital. It feels so good to be in my own bed. Here's Minnie with her cousin Lincoln. Lincoln just got back from Disneyworld a few months ago and Lincoln cannot drop the "mouse" off of Minnie. Every time he sees me he says "Minnie Mouse?" We try to explain to him it's just Minnie, not Minnie Mouse. He's not having it. He loves her and is always asking to hold her. It's so sweet.

Robert is really great with her. He has been so good through all of this, even in spite of starting school Monday. Minnie looks SO small in his arms.

Don't judge us. We have this sweet little baby basket for her but my mom is sewing some lining into it right now, so this is what we've resorted to for the time being. Classy, right? Minnie loves it.

My dream baby.

Robert and I celebrated our first anniversary last night. Can you believe we have a baby? We are so crazy, and yet I could not feel more blessed.

We had dinner at Market Street and went on a little drive (I can't do much after this darn c-section). It was simple, but it was nice to just have a few hours to the two of us. I love this guy so much. We have had such a happy year. He asked me last night at dinner if I think it's weird that we don't fight. I guess it is pretty weird and I'm not really sure how it works. People often ask us why we don't fight. Really, I attribute it all to Robert. He is the most selfless person in the world. I am so lucky.

Year-old cake is not as bad as one might think.
Happy anniversary love!