We praise God for our newest addition, Mercy Rose! Born July 8th at 2:16am (7 days early!), 7 pounds, 1.1 ounce, 19 inches, and a slight tint of red in her hair. She's doing wonderfully and is VERY loved by her two big sisters...
In the past month, I was reminded twice, (once by a good friend, and once by our sweet neighbor), how we are never guaranteed to deliver a healthy baby into this world. So true. Praise God for His grace in giving us this precious miracle! Her new life is such a gift.
Here's how she came...
I started having consistent contractions Sunday morning at church...so, around 10 am on July 7th. I wasn't due until the 15th, so I was a little skeptical that this was the "real" thing...but my body was telling me otherwise. After church, the contractions kept coming, but they didn't get real strong until later in the evening. Our girls were at Norris with Chad's family, so Chad and I had time just take it easy and keep track of the progress ;)...
At 10pm, we headed to the hospital. But once we got there, my contractions slowed down and I was only dilated to a 3 :(. I was pretty bummed because I really didn't want to be sent home. My midwife had us go take a walk for an hour and then come back to be checked again. That walk made the contractions come back hard and strong, thank goodness! When she checked me at 11:15, I had dilated to a 5 and they could admit me...yay!
I did go ahead and get an epidural this time (my first real one really...with Emma I had an intrathecal - a type of epidural I guess, but my midwife didn't recommend it this time). So, I got that at 1:00am, but it didn't work very well. My left leg was numb, but I could still feel everything on the right side and ALL the contractions. It made the experience pretty uncomfortable because I was hooked up to my IV and epidural, in bed, but I could still feel all the pain :(. (Note to self, if I do give birth again the future...don't get an epidural!). Thankfully, this only lasted an hour. At 2:00am, they checked me and I was fully dilated and fully effaced. Right after that, I sat up to puke and my water broke. It was time to push! I pushed through two contractions and she was out. And all the pain was gone :)...it is SO amazing how the pain can go away so fast!
Her first picture :)...
So thankful to hold her in my arms...
The rest of that day was pretty relaxing...she slept ALL day (of course)...and we tried to!
Her first visitors, my Mom and Dad...
And then Liv and Emma came with Chad's mom and Aunt Katie. Liv was in love with her from the start!
Emma not so much ;)...
Emma was all over the place in that hospital room! She wasn't that excited at first about Mercy, but now that we're home, she's a big fan :).
Andrea was her most excited visitor though :). She moved with her family to California the next morning, so it was so special for them to meet Mercy before their departure. This was one of the best parts of Mercy arriving early!
And Alex and Brittany came too :).
Tuesday, July 9th, we headed home...
The rest of that week Chad was around to help out with the girls. It was SO nice to have him home. I got spoiled with the extra help...
Just 3 days old...
And at 5 days, she had her first outing with our family. We needed to get the girls out of the house for a little bit! First to the doctor for Mercy and then to wildlife prairie park. Here's Chad with his 3 girls :)...
