Selah's Arrival...March 4, 2010

I'm a little behind getting the actual day of Selah's birth documented, but here it is!

The day started early for us since we had to be at the hospital between 6 and 6:30, and we had a 45 minute drive. We woke up around 4:30 to get ready to go! We actually got a pretty good night's rest, which was a great thing! Myla had gone home with my mom for the night. It was very bittersweet telling her bye Wednesday afternoon knowing that I wouldn't see her again until after Selah was here. Anyway, back to the story. We got up and got ready and headed to New Albany...

38 weeks, 6 days pregnant

This was right before we left for the hospital
At the hospital...hooked up to everything and ready to go!

When we got to the hospital, I was dialated to between 2 and 3 centimeters, which was a shock to me! I thought that I would probably progress really quickly, and I was excited at that possibility! The nurses started the Pitocin, and my contractions slowly but surely started. Dr. Williams came in around 9:30 a.m. and broke my water. After he broke my water, I was at 3 cm, and he told me I could get my epidural whenever I wanted. Have I mentioned that I love my doctor! I told the nurse that I would go ahead and get my epidural even though I really wasn't hurting that bad....hey, why not? I could certainly feel the contractions, but it was nothing unbearable.

My epidural was the only "bad" thing that happened during my labor and delivery. The first epidural that the doc put in went into a blood vessel, which evidently is not a great thing to happen. He immediately had to pull it out, and I quickly started feeling light headed from the epinephrine he had injected as a "test dose". They laid me back until I started feeling better, and then he put a second epidural in. It went in without any problems, and I laid back thinking things were looking up. Well, again, I quickly became VERY lightheaded and felt like I was going to faint. My blood pressure started dropping rapidly, and he was putting medicine in the epidural line trying to get it back up. They also started me on more fluids to try and get my BP up. I can remember the doc and nurses leaving the room and Michael was standing right by my side. He said that he couldn't really tell the difference between me and the sheet because I was so white. I remember him asking me if the machine was taking my BP again, and I said it was. Well, at that point, my BP was 54/31, so Michael ran into the hallway and got the doc back in there to give me more medicine. They were finally able to get it back up to normal. It took over and hour for that to happen, so for that whole time, a total of about 1 1/2 hours, my labor pretty much stopped. I didn't have any contractions during that time.

Eventually everything went back to normal, and my labor continued as expected! My epidural worked great! It was completely different than the one that I had with Myla. With Myla, I was completely numb...couldn't move anything..."nailed to the bed" as the anestheseiologist put it. With this one I couldn't feel anything, but I could still move. I liked it a lot better, actually. I was able to get up and walk soon after Selah was born, which was great.

I finally got to 10 centimeters around 7:30 p.m., and I was able to start pushing. I pushed through one contraction, and they called Dr. Williams. I only pushed a few more times and Selah was born at 7:57 p.m. We were so excited that she was finally here and healthy! She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long....and....absolutely perfect!
Meeting Selah for the very first time! Such a wonderful moment!

It is just a miracle to see a baby right after entering the world. God is SO good!

Proud Mommy

Sweet Baby Selah

Daddy, Selah and Mommy

Already getting kisses

It was just hard to quit looking at her!

My nurses, Lysette and Carmen (this picture was at 5:30 a.m.! They look a lot more awake than I do...HA!)

They were also my nurses when I delivered Myla! I was so excited they were working...they are AWESOME....Love them!!

The board in our room. I thought the nurse was so sweet to write Myla's name on there as the big sis!

Well, how have we been since we've been home, you ask??? Things have actually been going really well. Selah is a great baby. She rarely crys and is just content most of the time. She is eating great and sleeping very well. She only gets up once in the night to eat, which is helpful for Mommy and Daddy! We had to have her bilirubin level checked today because the doctor thought she might have jaundice, but her levels checked out just fine, thank goodness!!

This process has definitely been an adjustment for Myla. It has been a difficult transition, but each day is getting better. She has been acting out a little more than normal, but I completely expected that. She is not super crazy about Selah yet, but I think it's because Selah really can't do anything with her. I think when she gets a little bigger, she will enjoy her a lot more. It is certainly different having two, but I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with two healthy, happy girls. We couldn't be more blessed!