Baby E's Due Date

For the last 9 months, today is the day we had been looking forward to in anticipation of Baby E coming! Things have been a bit chaotic here around our house but I've finally found a couple minutes and today seems like a fitting day to tell the rest of her story.

So I went into labor naturally and finally decided it was time to go to the hospital. It was 11 am when they checked me in and I was dilated to a 5. With A, I had been terrified of labor and delivery; this time was a lot less scary because I had an idea of what to expect. But this time also hurt a lot more because I had actually labored at home for seven hours first, whereas my first delivery had been entirely in the hospital! So as soon as I was checked in, I was asking for my epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section, so they told me it would be about half an hour before he'd be able to come.

The contractions started to get strong enough that I had to grip onto something and gasp "ow ow ow" over and over again until they passed. M was so sweet to hold my hands and let me squeeze them through the pain and cry. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived and brought magical pain relief with him. By the time the epidural kicked in, it was 12:30 pm. We had been at the hospital for 1½ hours and I was dilated to a 9.

My fear was that Baby Girl would come before the epidural was working, so I was thrilled that both of my legs were wonderfully numb by the time my doctor had everything ready for the delivery and said it was time to push. I didn't think to look at the clock, but I think the total pushing time was only 15-20 minutes and suddenly our beautiful baby girl was here!

Over the past 9 months, I had wondered over and over how I could possibly ever love this little girl as much as I love A. But the moment the doctor put her in my arms and I held her close to my chest, my heart felt so full! Once again, it was kind of surreal how instantly I fell in love with my brand new baby.

Her face was simply beautiful! Her features reminded me of A but with a gorgeous femininity. Although we had a little list of names we were choosing from, once we saw her we knew this was our Baby E that we had been waiting to meet! I wish I had words to express what an amazing moment that was for me and just how much love I felt for her. Laying in my hospital bed with M sitting in the chair right next to me and holding our little girl was truly amazing.

When they took her to clean and weigh, she grabbed the edge of the scale and tried to pull herself up! I loved watching M there at her side because he is the sweetest dad. He brought Baby E back to me after the doctor got him cleaned up and we all cuddled together. It was really nice because at this point all of the nurses and doctors left the room and let us have our time alone.

We were then moved from Labor & Delivery to the Maternity wing, where we would be allowed to stay for the next 48 hours but we were pretty much begging to be let go after 24! We had dropped A off at my sister-in-law's house when we headed to the hospital; then, after a few hours, my mother-in-law came to help watch him too. So by the time we were moved into our room and could have visitors, I was missing A like crazy and so excited to see him—and have him meet his new sister.

We wanted A to meet his Baby E before any other visitors and allow him some time to understand what was going on, so M left to go pick him up. They spent some time together before coming to the hospital. When they got to the room, I made sure to have Baby E in her little crib so that I could spend a few minutes with A too. Once he had lots of hugs, kisses, and attention from us, we had him look around and find his baby! He seemed partially fascinated but partially terrified of her. We knew it would take him longer than a few minutes to love having a sibling, but we made sure to capture some of the first moments—both the smiles and the tears! But overall, he has been sweet and gentle with her.

My parents had jumped in the car as soon as I told them I was in labor and M's parents live here in the area, so Baby E was able to meet all her grandparents, as well as her Auntie Kiera, on her first day in the big world. I was so grateful for our great families and their love and support.

Finally our 24 hours were up and we got to come home. I was so glad to be leaving because it meant we wouldn't have nurses and doctors waking us all up constantly. M loaded up the car while I got Baby E dressed in her cute "going home" outfit. We buckled her into her carseat and she just looked so tiny! She loved the car ride home and slept soundly to the movement of the car. A was at home with my parents and I was so happy to have my little family of 4 reunited in our own home.

Overall, I had been nervous of several aspects of this experience. But I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it all went and what an amazing and special experience it was for me to welcome this beautiful little girl into our family.