Closing to "Happy Birthday to Ann" - See Previous Post

.....Okay - so I woke up to the nurses telling me I had a baby girl - and I was ecstatic - and then it all came back to me - so I began to ask, is she okay? and all of that and they were telling me to cough to clear my lungs and that was hurting so badly to do that and there were people all around checking my vitals, etc. and then the anesthesiologist said something about the baby giving them a scare - which at that point I began to ask what they meant - and they were all vague - so another nurse asked if I'd like to see her, which of course I wanted to and didn't know I could under the circumstances - because I kept closing my eyes and they kept telling me to stay awake and to cough - it was hard to do either - but then in came a nurse with Ann -

Oh my my goodness! She was crying so hard and so strong and then I started crying and they propped me up so I could hold her - she and I were both crying and I was saying, "don't cry, don't cry" - but it was such a strong healthy cry that I knew she was fine....and she was. It was just the most wonderful thing I'd ever experienced. Also, during those months of waiting and wondering what in the world my baby would look like, when I saw her I remember thinking, "Of course that's what my baby would look like". There was so much in her face that looked familiar to me. It was the best thing.

I always had to stay in recovery for one hour after each C-Section. I always hated that. I always loved it when that hour was up and they could take me to my room and soon after bring my baby to me. Also, in those days they were just beginning to let the mom's keep the babies in the room - but I didn't choose that. I didn't even know to. Especially with Ann - it was all so new to me - so they would bring the carts of babies onto the hall for their feedings and I could hear them all as they came - all those baby cries - I loved that sound. I would get so excited and I would wait until I could hear the nurse's footsteps coming to my door. I loved it - and there would be the swaddled bundle - oh and the way she smelled. It was heaven.

So - Ann was my first and on this night 28 years ago I was in a lot of pain - but had pain medication at my disposal - and I had a brand new baby girl - Mother and Daddy and Mary Ann drove up the next day - I was in the hospital for 10 days - which I can't believe. I was in pretty good shape when I went home - my milk always came in while I was in the hospital with a new baby. Mother stayed a week after I came home. So - tonight feels like Christmas Eve - Laura Beth is here. Luke is asleep and Ellie, too. I am going to bed now, to sleep with Ellie. Ann and Steve are at the hospital and Laura Beth is sleeping with the phone next to her in case anything happens quicker than we expected. Charlie, LB, Ellie, Luke and I will drive over as soon as we can all get ready in the morning - which I expect will be pretty quick. We're all very excited.