So, let's start at the beginning.
Damon and I got married January 8, 2011...
...and then we got a dog...
Tux.
...and then we decided about two and half years into our marriage that we were ready for a tiny human, but God had other plans. So we patiently waited while we served and got settled in our careers.
...THEN, finally on October 14, 2014 we found out we were pregnant.
We told everyone on Thanksgiving Day 2014.
...and on January 17, 2015 we found out our little one was a little GIRL.
We were pretty excited.
... and here are some shots of my bump and my favorite maternity shots.
... okay so finally...
June 14, 2014 it was time!
We went out to eat at Chili's the night before and headed up to the hospital. We thought if we got there before 8pm that we could go through admitting and get right on up to L&D. Well, that was for weekdays. It was Sunday... So, we ended up in the E.R. waiting to register to have this baby. Thank goodness I wasn't in active labor. We got registered and settled in our room by around 9:30pm. Since I was set to induce, my doctor wanted to start me on something to help things along through the night so we could start pitocin in the morning, but Emma was ready. I was already contracting and in some early stages of labor; so we skipped the starter drugs :). I barely slept at all that night, which turned out to be a bad idea, because birthing a human takes a lot out of you.
Around 6am my nurse started my pitocin drip, and I started to feel some fun contractions about 30 minutes later. Not too bad, but I knew what they were. She informed me that my doctor would come in and break my water around 8:30am. So, what did I do? I asked for my epidural of course! When the anesthesiologist came in to administer it, I was shaking like crazy from fear (and maybe not eating since Chili's). Damon had to sit on my feet to stop the shaking, but really it wasn't that bad of an experience. A little stick, a little "burn" as the medicine went it, and I was good to go!
So after laboring for a couple hours I hadn't progressed much, and I got a little discouraged. Poor Damon thought that once the doctor broke my water, we'd be moving right along and have a baby by 10am. While we were waiting on little miss she decided to show just how much she was going to run the show. She only let me lay on my left side the entire time. Anytime I tried to roll onto my right side, her heart rate went crazy. So left side it was... ALL DAY.
Around lunch everyone (mom, Ray'm, Pawpaw, and Tracy) went to get lunch, and we were relaxing (Damon napped). I started to feel some pressure and decided to call the nurse. My nurse Kayla (who called me "Sweet Pea") came in and let us know that it was time!! So our thought process... ITS TIME TO HAVE A BABY NOW... hahahaha. No.
We waited for almost 2 hours while they set up, I practice pushed, my doctor delivered someone else's baby, and then around 2:50pm we were ready. I was blessed with an incredibly short and easy labor, and Emma Michelle graced the world at 3:06pm.
She was a whopping 7lbs, 10oz; 20 inches, and screaming like a banshee.
After that, it is kind of a blur. I held her and loved on her, and then they took her over to the warmer where Damon watched over all the procedures to make sure she was okay. We spent about 45 minutes with her, just in awe of the miracle that we had. Then we invited in my family to come meet her. It was an exhausting and amazing day. Here are some pictures that captured some of that day perfectly.
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| First meeting |
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| One happy momma |
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| She has a set of lungs! |
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| Daddy didn't stand a chance. |
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| First time holding his baby girl. |
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| That smile says it all. |
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| My amazing L&D nurse, Kayla aka "Sweet Pea" |
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| This is the only picture where she looks like me... |
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| Meeting Grannie for the first time. |
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| and meeting old PawPaw |
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| First picture with PawPaw and Tracy. |
Now that I've updated everyone on her grand entrance, later this week I'll be posting more about her first 6 weeks in the world. She's a pretty amazing little girl.
the Smiths.
