Introducing.....

Miss 

Liberty Grace 

August 30th, 2012

11 lbs 2 oz 20 inch long 

12:16 pm arrival via unplanned c-section

So its been a whirlwind week & a half. We have settled in to our new life as a family of 3 very nicely. Working out our days and nights and adjusting to a little less sleep then we are used to. It's very surreal now that our little Bean has finally arrived and is a sweet little girl! She had us all fooled and convinced that "she" was actually a "he" even though we opted not to find out the gender.  Apparently I have no "feeling" for what gender I was carrying. 

I went in for my 40 week appointment last Wednesday (Aug. 29th) and after holding at a 1.75 cent dilation for a week and a half the Dr. opted to do an ultrasound to check the baby's size. Well turns out they projected that the baby would be 10 lbs 9 oz based on the measurement from scan - well at that point the Dr basically said that my only option would be a c section due to the risks of trying to deliver a baby that big.  So I left the Dr.'s office pretty upset since I had hoped to have a natural uncomplicated birth but apparently I grow um big. Dr scheduled my c section for the following Wednesday (Sept 5) due to scheduling issues. Wednesday was a tough day, hearing that you have to have a c section after basically 9 months I was told everything was fine and looking good. But we knew God has a plan in everything. 

Wednesday was also our 3 year anniversary, since it didn't appear baby was going to make an appearance that night we went out to P.F. Changs to celebrate. It was lovely, even if it was tainted by the heaviness of the news from earlier that day. We talked it over and prayed about it for the rest of the night and put our trust in the Lord. We prayed specifically for a few things 1) That if I had to have a c-section that my water would break on its own prior to the 5th, 2) that we could get a 2nd opinion, 3) God's will be done. 

God is good all the time and answered our prayers - my water broke at 4:20 am, upon arrival at the hospital we not only got a 2nd opinion but also a 3rd. Both Dr.s were willing to let me try and labor it out seeing as I'm 5'11 & was contracting every 2 minutes at this point but wasn't making much progress - but after review of my previous days sonogram they both agreed that due to Bean's projected size the safest option was a c section. Not the answer we wanted but we praised God for answering our prayers. So they left us with the information, we talked and prayed again and decided to move forward. C section was scheduled for 1130, we suited up, said see ya later to Mom & Mamaw and waited to be wheeled into the OR. 

Our labor and delivery nurses were fantastic. Since we had opted not to find out the gender of the baby - we joked about how they should just hold up the baby in the OR and let us look similar to the Lion King! 

Mr. B had to wait outside the OR while they got my epidural/spinal block in - worst 10-15 minutes of the whole experience. I hated to be separated from him. I was more anxious about the surgery aspect of the c section then of anything - labor I was prepared for, major abdomen surgery not so much. When I'm really anxious or nervous my lip quivers, or my teeth chatter. I quivered all the way from the first OR door until all was finished. Mr. B kissed me at the OR door, the wheeled me in, got me on the table. They keep it freezing in OR's too so on top of the nerves and the cold temperatures I shivered through it all. I had a really great team who were very understanding of my disappointment of not being able to deliver naturally and reassured me throughout the whole procedure. Finally they got me laid down and drugged up and Mr. B was allowed in - - - I just stared at my sweet Mr. B and dreamed about our little one we were going to meet soon.

Overall, it went really quickly. I felt no pain - just pressure and tugs. Our staff laughed, joked and kept us distracted through it all. The Dr.'s were complimenting each others work "nice cut", etc. and finally I felt the pressure of them pulling our Bean out - - next thing I hear "whoa look at that head", "whoa look at those shoulders!" "grunting" at which point I ask if everything is ok - and Mr. B sayd "yeah they are just trying to pull the toddler out!" 

Finally they pulled my sweet Bean out, holding her up just like in the Lion King - -- "It's a ..*pause*.... girl" the epidural lady helped us say. Mr. B just looked - thinking to himself "is that would a dude looks like when it comes out?" It's was a little hard to tell since her little lady parts were swollen and such. We were both shocked that it was a girl, I kept saying over and over "it's a girl?" for the next 30 minutes. Mind you we are over the moon for our sweet girl but we had both thought it was a boy the whole 9 months.  They cleaned her up while they stitched me up. 

When the nurse weighed her on the scale she thought the scale was broken at first since our girl was so healthy! 11 lbs 2 oz. But perfect in every way. Finally, they brought her over to Mr. B to hold and show me while they finished putting me together. She's practically perfect in every way! 

We are just blown away at God's graciousness and his all abiding love. My Liberty Grace is so beautiful and I'm enjoying my new role as Mommy. After spending 2 hours in the recovering room bonding and attempting to establish breastfeeding we were taken to our new room and everyone got to come in and meet our sweet girl! Mom & Mamaw were the first since they were there with us, Dad & Nathan flew in later that afternoon and joined in the fun! In the 4 days we were in the hospital the Montgomery's, Megan and Katie all came to visit us! We feel extremely blessed and loved by so many. 

We've also been blessed to have help these past two weeks while I heal and recover. Mom was able to be here for the remainder of last week and was a MASSIVE blessing to us. I was really really sad to see her go on Friday..... Mr. B's parents came in on Sunday and are staying the week to be of service as well. I don't go in for my 2 week post op appointment until the 20th so I'm still restricted until then on what I can and cannot do.  We had someone else offer to come up and stay another week if I needed it and I may call in that favor so I'll have help one more week - while I'm moving much better than I was a week ago it's nice having someone here to ease the transition.

I'll probably come through and edit this a few times - I'm sure it's full of typo's, but tonight I wanted to get it down before lack of sleep steals any more of my memories/brain cells. So blessed <3 br="br">