So things have changed at our house.
Remember my last post about Mother's Day and recall where I said: "it may be the best one ever"? Oddly enough, it really was - but in a totally unexpected way!
My husband, Riley, had just started on night shift a couple days prior to Mother's Day weekend. It was super exciting that he would be off work during the day on Mother's Day and would be able to join us for family lunch and festivities. With our EMS life, he is rarely off on holidays or special days during the year so this switch up was nice! We had 2 weeks until our baby girl was due and we were looking forward to meeting her, but I also had a week planned to spend tons of extra time with our son before he wasn't the only child anymore. I was going to miss having my only baby boy and felt like I needed that extra time just as much as maybe he did.
Friday night before Mother's Day I couldn't sleep at all. I felt like I had heartburn - which I hadn't experienced a ton of throughout either of my pregnancies - and also had a terrible headache. I may have gotten 3 hours of sleep that night and text Riley saying I felt horrible.... I'm sure he wondered what was new - ha - since I'm not really the best at being pregnant. He got home Saturday morning and I had just finished up making pancakes for our son and myself, which had turned into somewhat of a Saturday morning tradition. We ate breakfast and then even though I wasn't feeling super great yet, I decided to get out an overdue sewing project I'd taken on for our youth pastors wife. I had everything spread out on the table and ready to go when I realized I needed scissors. So I stood up....
Y'all, I'm telling you something just wasn't right. (I'll finish this part of the story the way Riley tells it.) I looked over at Riley and said, "I don't feel good." Glancing over from Andy Griffith or whatever he'd found on the tv, he replied, "What's the matter?" I was still standing there - my concern and anxiety internally increasing and answered: "I think my water just broke."
It was 10:15AM.
"Oh that kind of 'not feelin' good'." Riley says.
I'm pretty sure unless it's obviously an emergency, second time parents just don't rush. Riley called the doctor on-call at the hospital to ask what to do. We grabbed a few things we knew we still needed for our hospital bag. I was freaking out inside because MY doctor - the one who delivered our son and who we think very highly of - was on vacation. I didn't want to have a baby this day. As bad as it may sound, I didn't want to do it without my doctor. I was praying hard that my water didn't really break, but then in all seriousness, if it wasn't that then what was it? The doctor called back and told us to go to L&D to get checked out. Better to be safe. It was our precious baby girl after all.
We got a plan for our son, just in case we had to stay. On the way to the hospital we met Riley's sister so she could keep our boy for a little bit and we could go from there. In a way, the remaining drive to the hospital was the longest drive of my life. We got to the hospital and made it up to L&D. I had just been joking with some people at church about how we'd planned to go in a couple weeks for our scheduled cesarean and when they asked, "Can we help you?" I was going to say, "Yep, can I get this taken out?" Sounds stupid, yes. It had been a long 8-9 months, but the idea of a planned cesarean was just so weird to both Riley and myself. He would be talking about it like, "Monday's not good for me, can we do Thursday?" The whole idea of "picking" your child's birthday seemed foreign in a way.
I got checked out and the nurse looked at Riley and me and said: "Well you're stayin'!" I may have cried a little. I didn't have my doctor, I didn't feel mentally prepared, it was two weeks early, and I was truthfully really scared. She left to go help prep things and talk to the doctor (I assume). Riley knelt down by the hospital bed and made me look at him - he's quite the pep talk giver.
"You can do this." Sometimes I wonder if he says all these confident things to me to boost me up but is freaking out inside. Although I don't think my hubby ever loses his cool like that. (He's pretty dandy, I tell ya).
I don't know why I was so worried. Our delivery experience with our son was a nightmare, but this time I was just having a cesarean, no questions asked - no "stress". The doctor on-call would do it just like my doctor. Or close enough at least. This was almost just so fast we didn't have a chance to blink I guess. Riley had to get on the phone to try to redo his schedule for work so he could be there with me... and thanks to his amazing work family he had nothing to worry about. We managed to text a few family and close friends to tell them what was going on. Riley's dad was on the lake in a fishing tournament and had his fishing partner drop him off on the bank so he could go meet Riley's mama and get to the hospital. I was on the phone with a good friend from college when the nurse came back in the room and said it was time to go. I passed the phone off so Riley could finish the conversation.
The pre-op experience was bizarre. With our son, I was already in such pain and out of it that I didn't remember anything. It was the strangest thing to feel my body basically go numb this time. I was sitting on the table trying to hold it together and be tough, but inside I could seriously not believe that I was fixing to meet my daughter. Fast forward....
It was 1:27PM.
She was here. The fastest morning of our lives. I just remember a pasty white, crying little thing being laid up on my chest. I heard Riley say, "She's here baby!" I think he squeezed my hand, "She's here and she's beautiful. She looks just like birdy." (Birdy is my nickname for our son). I didn't realize it completely until my vision was better - after coming off the spinal and pain medicine some - but she definitely was the most gorgeous thing ever.
So Happy Mother's Day..... we woke up the next day not even caring what day it was or probably not even realizing that was Mother's Day. We were in the hospital with a brand new baby. Riley mentioned that evening that he was sorry I didn't get my Mother's Day (knock out roses) that he'd planned on getting me. It was all good. Riley's mama brought our son to the hospital to visit and get a new family picture for us. I was happy to see my little guy even though we couldn't snuggle and he naturally seemed totally disinterested in being in a hospital room. He did like his new baby sister though and decided she was "so cute" with the sweetest, heart-melting look on his face.
Needless to say it's been an interesting couple weeks making the transition to a family of four a tad sooner than we planned. A friend from church was messaging me later on Facebook and asked how we were doing and I told her we were good. I added that we'd had baby girl's delivery planned for a different week, but God laughs at man's plans. And honestly, that's true. It may have been totally unexpected and a huge surprise. But it was the best surprise. And regardless of all our concerns with her being early and everything else that comes up with a new baby it's been a good couple weeks. I can't believe that our girl is already TWO WEEKS OLD!! Time is flying - and she's sleeping right through it all - so far ha!
That was Mother's Day 2019. It was definitely the best Mother's Day ever. I'm so proud of my family of four. Still can't believe it. But feel so blessed. Without further ado though..... meet our angel, our long awaited baby girl - Elsie Mickelle (named after Riley's great-grandma Elsie; and also my wonderful grandpa Mick).
Elsie Mickelle Arrived: 1:27 P.M. Weight: 7lbs 11oz Length 21.5in
Newborn portraits taken by yours truly. I do these about once a year to remind myself why I'm a wedding photographer and not a newborn photographer. However, these are my favorite newborns I've ever done.
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