Welcome to the world Eloise!

I know that I haven't posted in over a week...my husband reminds me daily. I've had time to sit down and post, I just have been trying to take that time to take a shower, catch up on sleep, watch t.v....you know do something productive. So...let's start from the beginning.

Walt and I should have known that this journey to become parents was not going to be easy for us....Walt and I have a way of doing things the "hard way"....for example, when we got engaged, we found out that we were moving to Oklahoma two weeks before our wedding...this meant, finding new jobs, moving to a new home, getting married, telling family good-bye...it was hard.

Walt and I starting trying for a child and a year later we were going through insemination because we were having fertility issues....when we found out we were pregnant we were, once again, in the middle of moving back to Texas, me finding a job, going to London for a month, finding a house...that was hard as well.

Around the 20 week mark of our pregnancy the doctor told us that Eloise could possible have a cleft lip/cleft palate. This meant many more sonograms so the doctors could diagnosis this, we had genetic counseling, which was pointless, and even still at the end the doctors were wrong because Eloise has the most beautiful lips and did not have a cleft palate.

Then there was delivery. I had been carrying Eloise extremely low. For those of you that read on a daily/weekly/monthly basis you know that the doctor actually predicted Eloise to come early. HA. I ended up being induced, and on the day of induction was already having contractions 3-4 minutes apart. The doctor and nurses guessed that I would have Eloise by 12 noon that day. 12 rolled around, 1, rolled around, 2, finally at 3 it was time. Now let me go back for a second....Walt and I should have known from prior experiences that today was not going to go as planned. When we checked into the hospital at 5:45 that morning, there was a HUGE sign on the elevator and on the L & D floor that stated, "NO children under the age of 18 are permitted on the L & D floor because of H1N1." WHAT? Walt has a 12 year old brother, Tucker...this meant that he was not even allowed to come into the room to see me before giving birth, OR see Eloise once she was born. We should have known.
So... I started pushing at 3....mind you I was 80% effaced for 3 weeks....this shouldn't take long right? I remember after about 10 minutes of pushing, my doctor looked at Walt told him to get his scrubs on because we were being whisked away into the OR....Eloise's heart rate dropped to 80 and they needed to get her out ASAP. I was trying to remain calm....once we were in there the doctor told me that if I didn't want a C-section I had to push the hardest I have ever pushed in my life.... of course after I did this...thankfully, Eloise's heart rate came back up. So...after an hour and a half of pushing, Eloise finally made her debut at 4:23 p.m.... weighing 7 pounds and 5 ounces, 18 1/2 inches long.

Of course the doctor had to use a vacuum to get her out. I knew something was wrong from the moment she was born....mother's instincts? Nah...it was the fact that the nurses were all whispering to each other. Eloise was extremely pale and because of the vacuum she had suffered a HUGE hematoma on her head. The nurses whisked her away and Walt and I were left wondering what was going to happen to our baby girl. Come to find out she was placed in the NICU....they had to give her an IV because her blood count level was low, so they needed to treat her like she had an infection....they tried to find her veins 10 times before they were successful...poor baby...they blew 10 of her veins. Since she had a hematoma her head looked like a deflated water balloon...she was put on morphine because she was in so much pain. Obviously they had blood pressure monitors attached to her because her heart rate had dropped, and they placed a feeding tube through her nose because it was hurting her head too much to eat. This was not what Walt and I had planned. But..nothing ever is, right?

I didn't see my baby until 9 that night. The next 3 days were horrible. Going up into the NICU to see our sweet little girl was just heart wrenching. The only people allowed in there were me and Walt...so our families didn't even get to see their granddaughter/niece. The doctors had to give her a head ultrasound to make sure that there was not any fluid that had reached her brain.

Thankfully we had plenty of people praying for our baby girl. Thankfully God is an amazing provider who creates miracles. By Monday, after Walt and I had been discharged on Sunday, we went to see our sweet girl and EVERYTHING was perfect. She was well and we were able to take her home on Monday. I just can't even being to express how thankful I am for the power of prayer. God truly is amazing.

So....Walt and I have been taking in these past several days just in awe of this sweet little miracle that we created. Our journey was long, tough and sometimes we didn't even think that we would be able to hold a precious baby in our arms...but God had a plan and we have been blessed beyond measure.

Now, I'm not going to lie...yes, she has her days and nights mixed up....yes, I haven't slept since she came home...but if you were to ask me if I would do it all over again....without a doubt YES...to be able to have a small piece of heaven in my life everyday....I think our life is pretty darn perfect. Welcome to the world Eloise....you are our little miracle baby.

This is the first time I actually laid eyes on Eloise for longer than 1 minute.

Daddy loves her

She already has him wrapped around her finger

Day 2 in the NICU...looking much better!

Look at those eyes!

Finally home!

Looking rough, I know...but I really don't care.

Hello World!

After Gambi gave her her first bath

Ready to take on the world...one smile at a time!