Meet Our Little Miracle, Paisley Kate

The post I have been waiting 2 years to write is finally here and I can't really believe it. On Saturday, I woke up at 8:30 a.m. with BAD contractions. By the 2nd one, I knew I was in "real" labor. They were SO different than the braxton-hicks. I got out of bed and decided that I'd take a bath, until water ran down both legs. The pain after that got pretty unbearable immediately and I was having contractions every 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. So, I called Aaron at work to tell him it was "the big day". He decided I was kidding until I nearly leapt through the phone to wring his neck. :)

We got to the hospital an hour later and I was dilated to a 4 and having very active contractions. They quickly got me moved to an L&D room. I got my epidural (AMAZING- we'll talk about this in its own post soon) at a 6 and then my doctor broke my water. (Apparently at home, it had just leaked a pocket of fluid).

After he broke my water, labor started picking up even more and baby's head compressed the cord which caused the heartrate to drop. Within seconds, my room was a madhouse of nurses and doctors working to get baby stable. I thought I was paralyzed from the epidural until I was worried about my baby and suddenly I was able to turn from side to side, get on my hands and knees, etc. They actually gave me a shot of terbutaline to slow things down which worked and baby was good again.

I progressed to 10 cm and only pushed 12 minutes before introducing the most incredible baby ever into this world. I was in labor for 9 hours total which I consider VERY fortunate. It was the best (yet most painful) experience of my life and made all of our struggles worth it. She truly changed my whole life instantly and I am so in love with her.

Thought I'd post some pictures for now and tell more about her tomorrow since it's almost 1 a.m., my night owl is wide awake for the 3rd night in a row, and I'm currently breastfeeding her while typing with just 1 hand. Wow, I'm a mommy!!!!!


Our 7 pound, 9 ounce baby girl

In her carseat about to leave the hospital

Our tiny OSU fan

Those chubby cheeks are made for kisses...

Daddy's legs in the background, although mine probably look that bad!

All "girlied" up at the hands of the grandmas

Snuggling with daddy- our postpartum room was awesome. It had a queen size, comfortable bed so we could both sleep in it and of course get in some baby snuggling time!

Right after birth... I prayed so hard for a baby with hair and hers is perfect. Not the mullet we expected!

Thank you all so much for following us through all of this. I can only say to those still trying, keep the faith. It will all pay off in the end. I never, ever thought that this day would happen for me and I still think I'm going to wake up to find that it was all a dream. I love her with all of my heart and can't wait to tell you all my new mom thoughts about "the ring of fire", embarrasing moments during delivery, and my fun with breastfeeding...