Taylee Hope

For some reason, which is completely unknown to me, this is a difficult post to write. The entire pregnancy with this little princess had been a unique experience. It was an emotional journey. It brought me closer to my family, to my Heavenly Father, taught me a lot about myself, and created a bond between Taylee and I that I hope will sustain us through the difficult teenage years! My initial intentions were to share the entire experience on the blog, mostly because so many were involved in helping get her here safely, but I can't do that. There are some things that are just too special to share. There is something about this sweet little girl that I can't put into words and to try would be to fail miserably.

Here is the very plain, and probably boring, story of her birth.Last pregnancy picture taken right before we left for the hospital. 38 weeks and 1 day!

We got checked in to the hospital at 8 in the morning. I was considered a high-risk delivery because of the VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and the cerclage. Since that was the case my nurse and doctor were there solely for me. I didn't have to share them with any other patients! I was also the only induction that day. All the others had been canceled because there were so many babies (12 total by the end of the day), they wouldn't send us home since ours was a medical induction.

My doctor came in around 8:45 and removed the cerclage. I had heard so many terrifying stories about this and was prepared for serious pain. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! Seriously, no pain!! As soon as my stitch was removed I was dilated to 3cm. My doc checked me again 30 minutes later and I was dilated to 5 cm.

The epidural was ordered (even if I wanted to go natural...which I didn't...because of the situation it wasn't an option) and lucky for us, the amazing Rock was on epidural duty that day. I had heard he was the best and he didn't disappoint. I had control of my legs the entire time and I could walk very shortly after delivery. The only downside to the epidural was the itchy sensation I had and how tired it made me.

I was given a lot of IV fluid and some pitocin to keep things moving. Both of these fluids, along with 4 months of being off my feet, is what I blame my insanely swollen feet and ankles on. For days after delivery I suffered from puffy appendages.I couldn't seem to keep myself awake, so I took a few little cat naps while we waited for the big moment. It didn't take too long before I was completely dilated and ready to deliver. The whole process from stitch removal to her being born was 6 hours.I'd never had any desire to actually watch a baby be born, but when my doc asked if I wanted a mirror to watch, and I knew this would most likely be the last of our children, I said yes. I'm certainly glad I did. It was pretty incredible.

It took 4 contractions....2 if I had had more strength, and 3 if we all didn't stop for a good laugh. Laughter is definitely good medicine, but it doesn't help birth a baby :)

In the above picture, Brian is getting ready to cut the umbilical cord. Jaxon's cord had to be cut before he was delivered (it was wrapped around his neck) and Ryker was a c-section, so Brian didn't get the chance with either one. He looks pretty excited, don't you think?

Here she is! At this point her name was still undecided :) She came out showing off a good set of pipes. We were all making guess at how big she was. No one was prepared for a 7 pounder! Her official weight was 6 pounds 15.6 ounces....rounding up makes it an even 7 lbs.

We meet in person at last! This delivery was one of the sweetest and most spiritual experiences of my life. She is beyond precious.Look at all that hair! One of the highlights for me was to see that she had so much dark hair!! I haven't pull out all the baby pictures of Brian, me, and the boys, but it's pretty safe to say that she got my hair. Lucky for her, she also got Brian's eyelashes. Seriously! It is so soft!! I'm afraid I'm going to rub it all off with as much as I rub her head.

Brian and sweet baby Taylee. At this point I'm pretty sure I had agreed to name her Taylee. That could explain Brian's grin?!? Or, it's probably because he's one proud daddy. He's already making plans to move to Montana where he will build a large fortress to keep her locked up. Don't worry, I'm sure it will also include a helipad :)Three handsome men and a pretty little lady. Yep. I'm officially the luckiest girl in the world.

I shouldn't post this picture mostly because it's not the most flattering (at all!) of either me or my doc, but he's been a big part of our lives. I don't know many docs that make phone calls to their patients to check up on them. He has been such a great provider for us. I remember when we had Jaxon I asked him if he wanted to move in with us. I was a little bit serious, too. He's been such an amazing support over the last 7 years and helped deliver our 3 beautiful children. Besides all that, he took an entire day to be with just me, Brian, and our baby. Not many would do that.

I can't say enough how grateful I am for modern medicine. Without it I don't think we would have any of our children. Each of our kids has struggled getting here. Each of them have needed something that the pioneers certainly didn't have. Some women are built for having babies...I'm not one of them.

She's here and we're so very happy!