We're what? We're PARENTS??

It's hard to believe I'm 23 and a mother; however, I wouldn't ask for it to be any other way.  There is no love like a mother has for her child, no matter how hard the journey to receive such a precious gift.  In hindsight, I wouldn't consider my journey particularly tough, but maybe that is because the Lord has allowed me to forget the pain... maybe it's the lack of sleep.

Honestly, I thought the day of my daughter's birth would never come.  I kept telling Chandler that I couldn't imagine myself at the hospital in labor and delivering this supposed child in my womb; therefore, it  was not going to happen.  Strange ideal, I know.  But the day came despite the fact that Waverly's birth was scheduled and she was born six days after her due date with no progress up to that point.

March 4 came and passed with no cervical dilation.  My contractions were few and far between and certainly nothing to shake a finger at; thankfully, my ob had scheduled us for our induction the following Monday night, March 9, so I was content to wait just a few more days.  My contentment began to wear off, but anxiety quickly settled in as Monday night drew closer.  Chandler had taken the whole day off so we could run some last minute errands and tie up some loose ends.  It was actually a blessing to have a scheduled induction because we had time to get things prepared for when we would come home with our little bundle.  We also took advantage of our mealtimes, eating Chick fil a for lunch (my choice, obviously) and Malone's for dinner (yum!).  After dinner, we came home for showers and headed to the hospital.  He kept asking me how I was feeling, but at the time I was not allowing myself to feel any strong emotions and just going with the flow.

We checked into the hospital at 9:30 that night and spent an hour with the nurse getting settled into our room.  After 20 questions and my IV was started, the nurse gave me Cytotec, a suppository that softened the cervix.  We were keeping our fingers crossed that this would start my contractions naturally in hopes that I wouldn't need Pitocin.  My contractions definitely started and I was UN-comfortable.  Unfortunately, I wasn't dilated enough to warrant my epidural; however, I WAS able to receive some Stadol which, I was told, doesn't eliminate the pain, it just makes you care a lot less.  My mother in law had warned me about Stadol, saying that it made her feel horrible, so I was hesitant to accept it.  The pain got the best of me so as a compromise I took only half a dose.  And trust me, it was enough.  It sure didn't dull or eliminate the pain, but I was too loopy to take notice.  When I opened my eyes the room spun and boy, was everything extra hilarious.  At one point, I thought my water had broken, but as I tried to let Chandler and my mom know (she, thankfully, stayed the night with us), all I could do was giggle hysterically.  The situation was so hilarious that I had mom and Chandler giggling hysterically.  I finally did compose myself, but as I tried to sleep, my thoughts and dreams were so jacked up that I would have to keep myself from losing it again.  Needless to say, I wasn't getting much sleep.

My contractions kept getting stronger and the Stadol was not doing anything to help anymore and I started asking for the epidural.  By the next morning, I was only 3 cm dilated and could not yet receive it.    The pain was becoming more unbearable, but I had to suffer it out until my doctor gave orders for the epidural.  Finally, or so it seemed, it was just 7:30 in the morning, my doctor came to visit.  We told her about my water breaking, which she confirmed had not yet happened, so she broke it for me.  Shortly thereafter, around 8:30, she allowed me to have my epidural.  Every mother I have talked to was not lying when they said that the epidural is the best thing ever.  Almost immediately, I felt relief and was overwhelmingly thankful.  I'm pretty sure I thanked the anesthesiologist more than necessary.  But who knew starting an epidural was so complicated and time consuming?  She couldn't get it started fast enough.

All throughout the day, we had family come in and out of the room.  It was a good distraction and made the time go by quickly for me, although everyone else said it just dragged by.  It also helped that my nurse was WONDERFUL and wanted to do anything possible to make me comfortable.  My labor progressed and the doctor assured me that everything was going by the book; once I hit 5 cm, my labor kicked up and I was dilating one centimeter for every hour.  At 4:00 pm on Tuesday, I hit 8 cm and started to get a little more anxious about delivery and the next two hours dragged like none other of the previous 17 1/2 hours.

At 5:00 pm, I was still at 8 cm and the nurse and doctor threw around the possibility of a cesarean section if I was still at 8 cm come 6:00.  Unfortunately, that was still the case at 6:00, coupled with my slight fever and the baby's increased heart rate, the doctor gave the final call for a c-section at 6:15.  Was the news shocking?  Well, not really since I had been a little prepared earlier, but I was a little bummed; however, my desire to deliver a healthy baby while staying healthy myself overwhelmed my ideal delivery and I was more than willing to do whatever the doctor deemed appropriate.  Chandler and I had already discussed our thoughts about this particular situation prior to getting to the hospital and were both comfortable with this possibility, knowing that I would be in good hands.

The whole surgery took 45 minutes and my baby was born at 6:59.  Not 7:00.  6:59.  I love it.

Chandler was able to come to the operating room with me and the doctor gave him a heads up for when he could get out the camera and take pictures.  Obviously, I didn't feel anything throughout the surgery, so I didn't even know they were working on me and before I knew it, I heard Waverly cry for the first time.  It's a very overwhelming feeling to hear that first little cry and I shed a couple of tears, but honestly, I was so overcome with exhaustion and the drugs that I fell asleep almost immediately and couldn't keep my eyes open.  It was the strangest feeling, besides the epidural, of course.  Soon enough they had me sewed up and were wheeling me out of the operating room to recovery for an hour and a half.

As I recovered and family visited with me, Chandler went to the nursery and spent time with Waverly.  He said that as the nurses were giving her a bath, she just squalled until he put his finger in her hand, then she settled down.  Although I didn't get to be with her for the first few hours of her life, I'm thankful that Chandler was able to be there for and with her.

Finally, I was wheeled to our mother/baby room and got to hold my daughter for the first time at 11:00 that night.  I honestly don't remember much of that reunion and the next few days that we spent in the hospital all kind of run together as well.  We had so many guests coming in and out of the room at all times of the day, but somehow we managed to sleep a little bit each night.  We made a good choice to have Waverly taken to the nursery at night.  Little did we know at the time how valuable those nights really were because when we came home, it was just us taking care of her during the night.

As much as I miss having nurses around to answer questions and help out, I am so happy to be home with my family.  That's not to say that anything has slowed down or that we don't have guests every day, but it's nice to just be a family of three and do things how we see fit to do them.  It's very challenging and never easy trying to figure out a new baby, but I don't think I'd have it any other way.  I think that spending all of this time trying to get to know Waverly and establish a routine will be invaluable as time goes on because Chandler and I will know her better than anyone else in this world and I guess that's what makes her OUR daughter and nobody else's.