Life is a journey, not a destination...: The day she arrived!

June 17th, 2014...The day that Paisley Grace arrived.

The morning started off pretty good, had some mild cramps and had been on the monitor all throughout the night. 8:30 rolled around and in walked Dr. Elliot and my nurse. I knew this must have been important, because you don't just see Dr. Elliot for no reason. The first thing my favorite nurse Christine said was, "We're not gonna eat or drink anything right about now." And she started taking my water cup, any crackers I had on my tray table and even my Skittles. :) Dr. Elliot proceeded to say I had three pretty big contractions in the middle of the night with P's heart rate decelerating and slowly coming back up. He said after looking through the monitor strips, there was no reason to wait any further. He wanted what was safe for baby and since I was 35 weeks, waiting another couple days wasn't going to change the outcome of Paisley. If it was 2 weeks we were waiting, then yes it would have, but a couple days he felt wouldn't make the difference and he wanted to keep her safety number one.

After he gave us the news, he said we had the option to have the scheduled c-section at 5:00 p.m. or 7 a.m. the next morning. He said he would leave us be, so that we could make the decision. Jaris and I talked about the positives of having her that night, but of course the little small bit in the back of my mind was telling me that "today wasn't an even number." LOL! I know, I know...I'm silly, but that's just me. After discussing what time we would do it, just for fun, we flipped a coin to determine if it was the best option. Sure enough "heads" came up twice in a row and that was the sign we needed to know tonight was the night. So, all day went by...I couldn't eat or drink anything and I was starving!! Jaris even went and ate lunch in the cafeteria by himself so he wouldn't eat in front of me, what a sweet guy he is! I took a small nap around 2:30 so that I could get some rest and make the time go by faster.

4:30 p.m. rolled around and in came my nurse getting me prepped ready to go. She gave Jaris his scrubs and me my awesome hair net. Christine was able to be our nurse in the OR, and we were so grateful we had her.

Prepped and ready to go!!

I was rolled to the OR, and Jaris couldn't go in the room with me at first. I had to get the spinal block in my back and I must say I was so stinkin brave and strong getting those. I thought for sure I would go into panic attack without having Jaris there, but nope! Christine was there the entire time, and I was holding her hand. It only took a few minutes, and I was unable to feel my legs or toes. Craziest feeling in the world, it actually made me giggle a lot while lying on the table. In came my OB Doctor, and the whole process went so fast. Jaris came in ready to go with camera in hand, and they started cutting me open. Jaris watched the entire thing. He was rubbing my head, but was so intrigued with what the doctors were doing that he wasn't really paying attention to his wife! :) I felt the pulling and tugging, but no pain at all, and then all of sudden I hear Jaris say "Oh my goodness, there's Paisley" and he started crying. It was the most precious thing I had ever seen and then I started crying. He kept repeating, she's here, she's here. After the surgery and being sewed back up, Dr. Gottfried showed me my placenta and the Vasa Previa that was the condition that I had. Not only did I have one big blood vessel in the way, but I had 3 other tiny blood vessels in the placenta as well, and Dr. Gottfried was very shocked to see that. So it seemed that my condition was even more serious then what we thought! That's why after all was said and done, I'm glad she was delivered c-section on the day that she was!

Paisley was taken to the little crib next to us and was monitored and checked over by the team of NICU nurses. She didn't come out crying right away because she had swallowed some fluid and it needed to be sucked out. As soon as they did that and we heard her crying, Jaris and I started crying again! She weighed and measured: 4 lbs. 15 oz. 17 3/4 in. long. I laughed and joked with Jaris and said of course she would stubborn and not gain that extra ounce to be 5 lbs., just like her Mama :) They proceeded to tell us that she was breathing well, her pink color was gorgeous, and that they were going to take her to the nursery, not the NICU. That was the best news to get!! I thought for sure her being such a peanut, she would have to go to the NICU, but she totally proved us wrong. All the prayers really were answered!! We felt so blessed.

After I came out of recovery and we got to our room, all of it happened so fast. We had family and friends that came to visit and Paisley came in from the nursery. Everything went so good, and Paisley was eating enough and showing that her blood sugars were right where they needed to be. Jaris and I still can't believe that we are parents, it is still so surreal to us. We are so blessed and thankful for all the prayers, love, and support and we couldn't be happier. If all goes well with me and baby P, it looks like we'll be discharged Friday or Saturday. It is amazing to see Jaris become a Dad, he is just a natural. He has been my rock through this entire thing and has been such a huge help minute by minute.

We now will embark in the journey of parenthood. I'm sure it will be a roller coaster of fun, but emotional times. We look forward to it, and we look forward to seeing her grow! Happy Birthday to Miss Paisley Grace on June 17th, 2014!!