Birth Story of Daughter #1

Yesterday marked a special day in our family:  our oldest turned 3 years old!  She has been such a blessing in our family and I thought I would take a few minutes to share with you the story of her entry into the world.  Most women {which I think most of you readers are} love a good birth story, and I've never before shared this on my blog, so what better time than now?  In fact, three years ago today I was sitting in a hospital bed writing down the story in my journal.  Come back with me a few years as I remember the day I became a mother...

May 8, 2008:
That morning I took a pregnancy test and my suspicions were confirmed that I indeed was pregnant!  We were thrilled!  My first trimester wasn't horrible, and I was working from home at the time, so it was easy to nap whenever I wanted, eat whatever was in sight {which I did} and enjoy having my husband home.  The due date was set for January 6, 2009.

July 21, 2008:
My husband left for training with the Navy, and I moved from our home in SC, to live with my parents in VA. Life was a bit uncertain at this point, not knowing when we would be together again, where we would live next, and whether or not Bradley would be with me for the birth of our first baby.  But, we trusted that the Lord would take care of it all and there was no need to fear.

December 20, 2008:
I finally picked Bradley up from the airport for our 2 week time together before he officially moved to San Diego to report for duty.  I was hugely pregnant, he was exhausted, and we were hoping and praying that our little baby would arrive early so he could be present when she was born.  We enjoyed a few days before Christmas with both of our families, and then settled in to wait for things to start happening.

December 26, 2008:
I had contractions ALL day long, about 3 minutes apart, so we finally went to the hospital in the afternoon, bags packed, ready to meet our baby.  After walking the hospital halls for a couple of hours, my contractions weren't getting any more intense, so they sent me home.  Ugh!  Anyone else who has had false labor knows that is one of the most discouraging things to hear!  Thankfully, I had dilated to 3 centimeters, so something was happening, just not enough.

December 28, 2008:
Around 10AM, Bradley and I were getting ready for church when I felt my water break.  Yes!  I had been told to come to the hospital if that happened, and I knew that once my water broke they'd have to get the baby out within 24 hours.  God had answered our prayers, and Bradley would be with me for the delivery!!

Checked in and waiting for things to start picking up.

We arrived at the hospital, got settled into our room, and the midwife finally showed up to completely break my water, and once she did the contractions started coming.  Around 5PM. the contractions began to pick up and I was pretty uncomfortable.  My goal was to have a natural delivery, no drugs, mostly because I HATE needles, and couldn't stand the thought of having a long needle in my spine.  My husband, and my parents, were fantastic labor coaches and got me through the long hours of contractions until about 10PM, when I was finally at 9 centimeters and ready to push.  This is when it got difficult.

Don't you just love those hospital gowns?  

I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and nothing really happened.  After about 3.5 hours, the midwife finally called a DR to come because they were going to have to vacuum out the baby {I guess a midwife is unable to do that}.  I was exhausted, sweaty, and just ready to get that child out of me!  After about 30 minutes, including one point when my husband thought the baby's head had been ripped off from the vacuum, we finally met our sweet baby GIRL, Isabella Claire, at 1:51AM, December 29.

Moments after birth

Holding her for the first time

Daddy and his little girl

My parents, aka Nini and Granddad

Family of 3

Never have I felt such amazing relief and joy than I did in that moment.  Immediately I began crying because I was so thankful that Bradley had been with me to meet our precious girl for the first time.  God's faithfulness to us was incredible, and I will never take that for granted.  Isabella Claire was 8 days early, and just as perfect and beautiful as ever.  She weighed in at 7lb. 14 oz., and 20 1/2 inches long {I think; not sure about the length}.

I finally asked to look in a mirror and almost didn't recognize my face.  After pushing for 4 hours, my entire face had swelled, and I had burst multiple blood vessels in my face and eyes.  Not the way you picture looking for those first photos with your new baby.  But, oh well!

My parents and siblings had all waited long hours to meet our baby, and they came in soon after to delivery to see our sweet girl.  

We spent 2 full days in the hospital and then went back to my parents' house where we enjoyed another three days before Bradley left for San Diego.  That was a difficult day, especially for him, but we were still so thankful that he had been able to be there for Isabella's birth.  {We were reunited 3 weeks later when Isabella and I moved to San Diego to join him}.

Feeling better the next day

Heading home

Saying Goodbye for 3 weeks

Isabella has brought us such joy over the years and we are proud to call her our daughter.  Our biggest prayer for her is that she will grow to know and love Jesus, and desire to follow Him with wholehearted devotion.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Isabella!