Blessed

Well, it's been a month since I posted last and whew, my life has changed in that month. Our baby girl was born on February 18!

I wanted to take a second to write down what a blessed pregnancy I had so that I don't forget to thank God for each of His blessings in my life.

David and I decided that we were ready to start a family in the late fall of 2009. We didn't actually start trying until the end of the year, but I was READY. I had been throwing out not-so-subtle hints for probably a year. *Blessing: My patient husband*

I expected that we'd be pregnant right away and having a baby in the fall of 2010.But as so often happens, my plans were not the Lord's. I worried and worried through the early months of 2010 thinking that something was wrong with me. I was having some irregularities that increased my fears. Every month was a disappointment. Through those months, God convicted me and worked on my heart. He reminded me of 1 Corinthians 13's reference to Faith, Hope, and Love. HOPE became my daily prayer. *Blessing: I learned to hope in Him, not in myself*

My doctor told me at an appointment in April that if we weren't pregnant by August, we'd start testing to determine what was going on. If ever I felt fear, it was that month. Suddenly, when you have a deadline, it makes things so much more urgent and scary. At the beginning of June, I packed up and trekked down to Russellville with Heather for a month of classes. *Blessing: Distraction in the form of graduate school*

On the last day of class, I woke up feeling sick. I'd been feeling gross for a few days and was convinced I had a cold and the drainage was making me nauseous. It was June 30 - our wedding anniversary. That day, as we packed up and left the apartment, Heather said "I hope you take a pregnancy test to celebrate your anniversary since you haven't been feeling great. Maybe this is it!" I had my doubts. That night, at almost midnight, David and I found out that we were going to be parents. The test turned positive immediately. *Blessing: We were going to Texas that weekend to see my family so we got to tell them the news!*

I went to the doctor for our first appointment and since we had trouble determining the due date, they wanted to do an ultrasound. David came with me a week later and we got to see our baby - who was already 10 weeks along! *Blessing: We got to have an ultrasound so early in the pregnancy - it gives such peace of mind*

I had about a month of morning sickness - strong nausea, but no vomiting. *Blessing: It was summer - I got to rest and relax, and by the time school started again, my sickness was all but gone; and Sarah was living with us, so she helped with cleaning since I wasn't feeling great*

I kept waiting and waiting to start looking pregnant, but (what a blessing) I stayed small until the last month or so of pregnancy. This made things so much easier for me when it came to getting work done and getting the nursery set up.

I wish I could list all of the blessings we had through the cards, gifts, and calls from family and friends, but that would take WAY too long to list. David and I have never known such a showering of love.

At 20 weeks, we got to see our baby again - and this time, we found out that it was a girl! *Blessings: A gifted ultrasound technician who knew what to look for; a baby girl who cooperated for the "camera"; and our friend Morgan who got to be with us when we found out.* That weekend, we went to Texas again so we got to tell our families in person.

The holidays flew by, and I knew that as soon as Christmas was over, I would have NO TIME to get things done before the baby came. David and I had really been discussing names and we settled on Elysen. Then after talking to Sarah one night, Elysen Ashleigh was our final choice. *Blessing (and miracle): David and I agreed on a name!*

I was really concerned that I wouldn't have time for my grad school classes in the spring semester, but it's my last semester, and I want to finish on time. So I signed up for the classes even though I was worried about fitting everything in. *Blessing: God took away my worry and provided 2 weeks of snow days in early February so that I could work on school and finish the nursery*

My prayers from day 1 of this journey were that Elysen would be a healthy baby and that God would give David and myself the wisdom to parent her. My only selfish want was that I would deliver her on my own without needing to be induced. The week of February 10, I started having contractions. These were more than just the Braxton Hicks that I'd been feeling for months, but they weren't regular or really painful, so we waited. At our 37 week appointment, I was already at 2 cm and 80% effaced. Dr. Birch told me that she didn't think we'd make it to 39 weeks. This was SUCH a blessing because the planner in me really needed a timeline for when to expect our baby. I knew what I needed to get done at school and had plenty of time to plan with my substitute. God knew that I needed to be able to prepare mentally, emotionally, and physically (cleaning the house) for our new arrival.

The week before Elysen's arrival was also an amazing time for David and I. Knowing this would be the last time for awhile, we spent lots of time being alone together. We watched movies and I baked cookies. By this time, the nursery was ready to go (Blessing #14: A mom who sews - she made the crib bedding and curtains). David cooked stuffed salmon for me on Valentine's Day, yet again showing me how blessed I am to be married to him.

Then, on the morning of February 18, I woke up at 3:30 cramping. At 4:30, I woke up again with cramps. At 5:30, when I was awakened yet again, I thought, "Wait a minute, these are coming in waves. Maybe they aren't cramps." I got up and went to lay on the couch (I hadn't been sleeping really well for a couple of weeks anyway - see the Snoring and Spouses post) and began timing - 8 MINUTES APART. Immediately, I texted my mom, who I assumed was asleep, but about 30 seconds later, my phone rang. After I described what I was feeling (I was still uncertain at this point), Mom said, "I think this is it - we're coming!" *Blessing: For a week, my mom had been saying that she was worried they wouldn't make it in time - I'd been in pre-labor for so long and they had a 6 hour drive. But they were able to make it in plenty of time.*

I had a scheduled doctor's appointment that morning (I was exactly 38 and 1/2 weeks), so I decided that we should probably take our hospital bags to the appointment with us. *Blessing: I had plenty of time to take a shower, wash my hair, and get everything packed up - anyone who knows me knows that this was very important to me.*

I woke David up at 6:30 and told him that I was getting ready and that I was pretty sure I was in labor. We called the doctor and they said to come on in to the office. As soon as Dr. Birch checked me (4-5 cm, and 100% effaced), she said to go upstairs to Labor and Delivery! Hooray!!

We checked in upstairs, the nurses hooked me up to all the machines, and within a couple of hours, I had my epidural (Blessing - Epidurals = wonderful). By this time, it was about noon, and my family arrived! *Blessing: Allison got to leave work early (about 12) so she and JB could come to Fayetteville that night*

A few hours later, I started feeling ready to push. The epidural did slow down my contractions a little, so they had to give me some Pitocin, but overall, everything went so quickly. Dr. Birch said my contractions looked like nothing, but they were really working! (This meant that I wasn't feeling a lot of pain even before the epidural - what a blessing).

I pushed for an hour. Elysen was being very stubborn because the cord was around her neck. But I was blessed to have a wise doctor who knew what to do and took care of the problem. David gave me so much encouragement (and ice chips - I was incredibly thirsty), but I was getting very tired after an hour. Then, God blessed me in a very strange way - He made me sick. I started throwing up from the exertion of pushing which contracted my muscles and helped push Elysen almost all the way out! Before I knew it, she was laying on my chest looking at me. She was born at 5:15 p.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 1 oz.

The next few hours were the only bad time we had through the entire process. Elysen had a lot of fluid in her lungs - more than most babies. Her cries were gurgles and she sounded like she couldn't breathe. I got to see her for a bit, but then the nurses took her to the nursery so they could really suction her lungs and eventually put her on oxygen. Even though this was a horrible time, and my family was so worried, God blessed me by sparing me from the worry. Because I couldn't leave the hospital bed, I didn't ever have to see my baby hooked up to the tubes. David and the rest of our family and friends were prayer warriors during this time. I believe that there were probably so many people praying for her that I will never know about.

That evening, the pediatrician came in and told us that he was going to lower her oxygen level. She was starting to improve. Within a couple of hours, they were able to take out all the tubes and give her a bath. Then, around 1 a.m., I finally got to see her again and hold her and try to feed her.

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning. By the time we went home, she was already such a great eater! This was a blessing since I'd been worried about breast feeding.

My mom stayed with us for 2 and 1/2 weeks after she was born so that I could get some rest and start to get into a schedule (and so that David wouldn't starve, haha). This was an extraordinary blessing for our whole family.

I'm sure that no one will ever read this except for me. I know that it's long and pretty boring, but I wanted so badly to take the time to write down the ways I saw God's hand over the last 9 months. He has blessed us beyond anything we could have hoped. Elysen is the most perfect baby I've ever seen. She's beautiful and she looks just like her dad. :) May I never ever forget how rich the Lord has made us through His great work in our lives and this pregnancy was no exception.