Abigail Grace's Birth Story

It's hard to believe that our little girl is already a week old today.  We have had so much fun getting to know her and just loving on her.  She is a pretty spectacular and sweet little girl.  

I figure I better write down her birth story before I forget all the details.  

Last Thursday I went to my weekly OB appointment at 10:40.  They had been telling me that I was dilated and effaced for several weeks, so I just figured that it would be a regular appointment and they would send me on my way.  I still had six days left before my due date.  

Logan was at school and I had dropped off Bella and Lincoln at my friend Krista's house.  The last thing I said to Krista as I was walking out her front door was, "This shouldn't take long.  It's just a quick check."  

When I showed up to my appointment the doctor checked me, and I was 6 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  She told me that I better head upstairs to the hospital, because there was a good chance I was going to have this baby today or tomorrow.

(I snapped this picture in the doctor's office before I headed up to the hospital.  During this pregnancy I gained 18 pounds.  I remember gaining more weight with Lincoln, but the doctors kept reassuring me that the baby was growing on track.)

I was a little bit in shock, because I hadn't brought anything with me.  The bag that I had packed weeks ago was still laying on the floor in our bedroom, my camera, the list of names we had talked about naming our little girl, EVERYTHING was left at home.  I called Jeff and told him what was happening.  I still didn't have a good idea as to when the baby might be coming, so he decided to stay at work until I had gotten myself checked in to the hospital, and seen the on-call doctor.  I thought it was rather humorous, because just the day before Jeff had decided to work from home.  Had Abigail decided to come a day early things would have run a little smoother, but in the end everything turned out just perfect.

Once I saw the doctor he told me that they could break my water, and he was pretty sure that she would come fairly quickly after that.  Jeff was still not at the hospital at that point, so I told them I would like to wait an hour or two and see if I dilated any more on my own.  I also wanted to allow Jeff some time to get to the hospital.  I knew it was going to take him at least an hour to get there.  By 12:30 my contractions were coming every two to three minutes.  They still weren't too painful, so I decided to wait for an epidural until Jeff showed up.  Jeff drove from Saint Joseph to Liberty Missouri, a 50 mile trip in 38 minutes.  Thankfully he didn't run into any police on the way to the hospital.  He finally made it to the hospital around 1:30.  

Now that he was there I felt much better about getting things started.  I had an epidural around 2:00, they broke my water around 3:00, and then we just waited.  I was 8 cm dilated when they checked me around 4:00 and then all of a sudden I jumped to a 10 and was ready to push.  I gave three or four good sets of pushes and about twenty minutes later we were meeting our little Abigail Grace.  She was born at 5:05 pm on Thursday, October 18th.  She weighed 7 pounds 14 oz (When we left the hospital on Saturday she weighed 7 pounds 4 oz and when they checked her on Wednesday of this week she was already back up to 7 pounds 7 ounces.) and was 20 inches long.   She is absolutely perfect.

Jeff had always had his heart set on the name Abigail, but I had been going back and forth for months on her name (some other ideas I had: Charlotte, Alexandra, and Adeline).  But during the labor process I just kept thinking about the name Abigail, and as soon as I saw her I just knew that was the name for her.  The meaning of her name is 'Joy of the Father' and 'Father Rejoiced'.  I'm sure her Father in Heaven as well as her father here on earth are rejoicing in the wonderful blessing that she is to all that know her.  And she has already brought so much joy and happiness into our lives.

I can't express how grateful I am to have the opportunity to experience this process.  For so many years I cried and wondered about what I was missing in not being able to get pregnant.  I honestly thought I would never have the chance to feel what it was like to bare a child.  My heart breaks for those women that have an honest desire to become a mother, and for one reason or another don't get the chance in this life to experience the desires of their hearts.  It has made every moment that I have had during my pregnancies and labors moments that I cherish and appreciate all the more.  The small amount of pain and discomfort is well worth it, when compared to the years of tears and heartache that went into achieving the family we now are blessed with.

Here are a few pictures of the kids meeting their new sister for the first time.

My precious girls.

My parents flew into town the day after Abigail was born.

Everyone getting a good look at the new addition.

They brought 5 Guys with them for dinner.  It was much better than the hospital food I had been eating.  Although I did have to admit that staying in the hospital those few days was like a mini-vacation for me.  No cleaning, no cooking, no laundry, no one needing my attention every two minutes.  Someone told Jeff that's why mormon moms have so many kids ~ so they can go to the hospital and have a break.  Ha, ha.

Our little miracle and blessing from God.