Piper's birth

Where do I begin? I guess at the beginning. :)

Last Friday, June 10th, Griffin and I were suppose to go to Austin to see some friends. He ended up having slight fever Thursday so I decided not to go Friday and just stay home with him. So that morning I began nesting. Which basically means "cleaning, organizing, getting ready for baby" . Tyler had been gone all week doing a youth camp in town, called Youth Week, with the youth group. Praise God the camp was local! So Friday afternoon I was putting Griffin down for his nap when the contractions began. I thought they were just minor and would go away, thinking to myself that Piper couldn't come this early, not during Youth Week. Well....the contractions continued all afternoon, being about 10 minutes apart. I still didn't think anything of them, until my dear friend, Stephanie Cheatham, my neighbor and our pastors wife, came over randomly to check on me. I told her I was about to take Griffin up to FBC to see Tyler for a bit while he ate dinner with the kids, since we hadn't seen him in three days. I then told her I was having contractions but didnt think they were anything really. She told me I should go to the hospital just to get checked, just in case. So I decided she was probably right and it wouldnt hurt to just get checked. So I finished packing my hospital bag and diaper bag real quickly while Stephanie put Piper's carseat in the Tahoe for me. WE WERE NOT READY, obviously. I loaded up out stuff, loaded Griffin and Stephanie drove us to the church to see Tyler first. He was about to lead worship when we got there and so we told him we would call him if he needed to come up to the hospital. Stephanie, Griffin, and I left for the hospital and after being checked the nurse looked at me and said calmly, "You're a good 5 cm dilated." Stephanie and I just looked at each other. I could not believe it! I was half way to a 10! Woah Nelly! This was at 7:00 pm. So Stephanie called our associate pastor, Sean, who drove Tyler to the hospital. I labored for about an hour or two, without the epidural, pacing back and forth in the hospital room, praying and asking God to show me when to get the epidural. I did not want to get it too soon because I was afraid it would slow everything down, like I feel like it did with Griffin. I enjoyed laboring for awhile, the contractions not being so bad since my water hadn't broken yet. In the mean time, I knew my mom and dad were not going to make it for the birth probably so I asked my friend, Adrian Gould, our associate pastors wife, if she would mind staying for the birth and being on the other side of me where my mom would have been if she would have made it. Adrian said yes! And I was very thankful. She counted for me during the pushing, allowing Tyler to just have the job of comforting me and encouraging me. I then had a contraction that was pretty painful and decided then to get the epidural, not wanting to wait too long and end up at a 9 and not be able to get it before pushing began. The anesthesiologist came in and was great! This was at around 9 pm. After the epidural, the nurse checked me again and I was a 7! 3 more to go! I was at a 10 by 10:30 pm and began pushing. I did not feel any pain, only pressure and knew exactly when to push. The doctor later said that the epidural was perfect, not too much, not too little. Praise God for that. Pushing was a piece of cake! And Piper arrived 45 minutes later at 11:14 pm. :)

I wasn't tired at all afterward and felt great. Giving birth to Piper was one of the best experiences of my life thus far. Griffin's birth may have been one of the hardest experiences, so being blessed with Piper's being so easy and fast was so wonderful. I am extremely thankful! I got to be the first to hold her and was able to enjoyed the experience, rather than being so exhausted and in shock and not being able to enjoy it.

My doctor was amazing, btw, too and was so positive and encouraging, telling me when he got there that it was going to be a good night and this was all going to go smoothly. He was so reassuring and made me feel calm, yet excited.

We are so thankful for our sweet little Piper Addison. She is a doll and we love her so, so much! God is so good and gracious and we praise Him for blessing us richly with Piper's life. She is doing so well, eating great, sleeping great, hardly ever crying, and just being oh so pretty! She is 8 days old today and already growing and changing. Griffin has loved on her and gets so excited to just look at her and hold her. He is an amazing big brother, so loving. Our little family has grown and we are so grateful. :)