Blessings

For those of you who want some birth details:
On Tuesday morning, I arrived at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. for my amniocentesis. I got hooked up to the monitors and IV and waited for Dr. Rawlins to arrive. I was so blessed to have the best nurse who is known for her abilities to start an IV painlessly. Dr. Rawlins had called and requested that she do my prep and had filled her in on why we were doing the amnio, etc. What a sweet doctor he is. Dr. Rawlins arrived at about 8:00 and came in to perform the amnio, which I will admit was somewhat painful. It was very short, however, and my wonderful friend Nicole held my hand and calmed me while I grimaced and held my breath. Dr. Rawlins held up three little vials of amniotic fluid and said with a grin, "Looks like she's done to me." He said that when the fluid is nice and "cloudy" like that, it is almost always a sign that the p/g test will come back positive. He said we would know in an hour or so.

At 9:00, my wonderful nurse poked her head into the exam room and asked when the last time I had anything to eat was. Being hopeful, I had not eaten anything since midnight. She grinned and told me that there was a chance the doctor could do the C-section that day sometime. At 9:30, she came back into the exam room and said, "It's official. She is ready! We have one opening today and it's at 10:00." My eyes got wide and I said, "You mean in thirty minutes??" Tim was in Hermiston at work and so I called him and asked him what he wanted me to do and he agreed that if I wanted to go ahead, it was okay with him. My mom was there with me and so was Nicole and he said he understood...and so they prepped me and she was born at 10:31. The C-section was honestly so wonderful and painless and exciting.

Anna came out crying nice and strong and my tears followed shortly after. Hearing her strong cry was the best sound ever and I praised God for that instant reassurance of her health. The nurses brought her over to my face so I could kiss her and see her and it was the most wonderful moment. They took her back to the labor and delivery suite with my mom and Nicole and I got to join her only fifteen minutes later. The rest of that day was a bit crazy...I had some kind of reaction either to the antibiotics or to stress or to the spinal and ended up throwing up many, many times. I wasn't that bothered by it, though, and was sooo happy that my little girl had finally arrived and was wonderfully healthy and beautiful. Tim and Andrew arrived at the hospital about 2:30 and I had waited for them so that Tim and I could name her together.

I held her and told my mom, dad, and Andrew that we had chosen a name for our little girl based on its meaning. Anna means gracious (sometimes listed as gracious gift of God) and our God has certainly been gracious to us in giving us this tiny, perfect gift.

Today, one week later, as I look at her little sleeping body next to mine, I am amazed. I am in awe of God's blessings in our lives and fascinated by every tiny movement that she makes. I cry in joy so often, relieved that she is here and that she came home with us. She is growing so much and eating so well and we just LOVE her. She is an extremely snuggly baby and loves to put the top of her head up underneath my chin and snuggle in for warmth. She is also very fond of head rubs and cranes her neck for more anytime someone rubs her tiny little head. She especially enjoys her daily head washing and makes adorable little mewling noises until it's over. She is just so much fun...and again...we LOVE her.

Andrew is adjusting to being a big brother. He is so tender towards her, and yet is having a hard time remembering his brother Nathan and how different things could have been with him. We expected this would be difficult in many ways for him, but know he will adjust in time. He fortunately just started his basketball season and so is reasonably busy with his own things. Tim is off from work for two whole weeks (yay!) and so Andrew gets some extra Dad time, too. I had to miss his first basketball game and I was so bummed, but Andrew came home and told me every little detail, including the fact that he made the first basket!! He is a great kid and will be such an awesome big brother, I know. I look forward to watching him grow closer to his sis.

Here are a few more pics, some from the hospital, some more recent.