All Things New

What a way to start off the New Year. We have very exciting news, Samantha Kay is here! Friday, Jan. 1st around 7:30 pm I started having unusual pains. I told Will that I think the taco casserole was not agreeing with me. About 8:00 pm, I very calmly suggested we call our friend Emily to take care of the dogs. As the night went on the strange pains got worse and began to come every 9-15 minutes. Will asked me if I thought it was still the casserole. We got things together and then the contractions slowed a lot, so we went and watched TV. Then, about 11:30 I had had enough and we had had several contractions that were five minutes apart. We went to the hospital. We got checked in and immediately asked for the epidural. I received it two hours later. Not a happy camper! It took awhile because I had to first be given fluid through an IV and then they had to call the doctor to come in and blah blah blah I didn't care. Therefore, we labored by ourselves for 7 1/2 hours. Once, the epidural was in Will and I took a nap. The labor room had a chair that folded out into a bed. About 5ish the nurse came in and said I was completely dialated but that baby was still high. She said I had a choice of pushing for three hours or taking another nap. I said a nap would be lovely.
At around 7:15 my delivery nurse came in and said lets go. We started the process of pushing and she said that she thought she needed to turn my epidural down so I could feel when to push. I told her I would work harder and she said okay. I then earned my epidural for the next hour. Samantha Kay came at 8:49 am. She was facing head up so that wasn't ideal for either of us. She cried once and then was happy. She was a perfect 10. The doctors finished with me and I got to hold my little one.
Now, I need to talk about my sweet husband. He did awesome! He stayed by myself and helped me with the contractions, he was a great pushing coach and he cut the umbilical cord. I am so blessed. He is so caring and loving, and now he has two girls that are absolutely tied around his finger.
Samantha and I recovered that day. The epidural was a super epidural because I could not use my right leg for the rest of the day. I had a stump. Samantha and I hit it off and conquered feeding. It wasn't easy but we did it. We continuted to heal and were scheduled to leave the hospital Monday.
Monday we were released, but Samantha had some jaundice so the next day we were to have her checked on. I had a lot of swelling in the legs and feet. My feet and legs were never this swollen during pregnancy. I too had to get a check up and blood work the next day. Praise the Lord, we both checked out okay.
This has been an amazing experience. Its day four and I'm amazed at how she looks around, the noises that she makes, and the progress she has made in such a short time. This will fly by too fast. She teaches us something new every day. We are such a typical new parents. We fumble around trying to hold her just right and we take forever to get her in the car seat, but she patiently understands. She loves to cuddle and look around. But, if she cann't get her food or pacifier fast enough she will let you know.
Tonight is our second night together and all ready it has been so much better. I'm getting the hang of it. The first night we were all off, but I think we are going to get it down. I cann't believe I'm a mom. I have the greatest job in the world.
I was always curious about why my mom worried about us so much. Now I know. I worry about dropping her, bumping her head, not being there when she needs me, and I spend most of the night watching her breathe. I continuously pray and put her in His hands. I remind myself that this is His child He has blessed us with. I pray that she grows to love Jesus and gives her life to him.
I think about the study of David I just did and how David would praise and worship God. I wonder if there were times where in David's praise he became so speechless that He just stood quite in front of the Lord. That is how I feel. I am speechless before the Lord. I'm thankful to be a stay at home mom, thankful for a husband like Will, and overwhelmed with friends and family that love us so much. Most of all, awed that he could give us such a precious gift. What a journey we have begun. Each day God gives us the morning, and all things new in it. Praise the Lord, oh my soul!