Baby Dawson is going in and out of a sleep as I type on these extremely loud computer keys. I'm trying so hard to type gently and not make a TON of noise. Although I'm begining to think she enjoys the noise. That's always when she has slept the best.... when we are somewhere with a lot of noise.
Dawson was born on August 13, 2012. We were scheduled to go in that day. It was a Monday. A couple of weeks before she was born, she hadn't flipped yet, so Dr. R monitored her and about a week out, scheduled a c-section for the little breech babe. I was also breech, so she was already taking after her momma :)
On that Sunday night, it was hard to get any sleep at all. My mom came to town after a long day. Her brother passed away that Sunday afternoon. Not exactly what you want to happen around such a joyous time. But it was comforting knowing my Uncle Ronnie was entering Heaven just as Dawson was entering this world. Crazy how things work out. The Man upstairs definitely knows what he is doing. I know Dawson's arrival helped everyone out during that sad time.
So my mom go into town that evening. We ate, watched some TV, talked about how crazy it was I was about to have a baby in less than 24 hours. We pondered what she would look like. My mom took one last pic of my belly. It was a great night. The next morning, Jack and I were up early and ready for our day. I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight that Sunday - why is it when people tell you that you can't eat or drink you suddenly get SO hungry and thirsty? So I was extremely thirsty Monday morning. We packed up and headed to the hospital.
Shortly after they finally got my IV in, they hooked me up to this machine that showed Dawson's heartbeat and my contractions. I don't think I ever had any contractions. Jack's mom and friend LaDon arrived, my dad, my mom and sisters all arrived. After they came into the room, I feel like they were only there a few minutes and then Jack went to get suited up and we were off to the delivery room! Jack's sister arrived once we went back! It was a full house!
Right before I went into the room, Dr. R came by and checked one last time to make sure she hadn't decided to flip around - then it was time to go! They wheeled me in and Jack had to sit outside until they gave me the spinal block and had the sheets up, etc. Once they were all ready to start, Jack was able to come in and I swear not 10 minutes went by and Dawson Caroline was welcomed into this world! They lifted her up over the sheet for about one second, I barely got a glimpse of her. Jack went over with her and kept running back to me showing me pictures of sweet Dawson on our camera. Then she finally came over to me after Jack was able to cut the umbillical cord and they got her bundled up! I cry thinking about that first moment when she was right next to me. With Jack. One happy little family. The baby we had hoped and prayed for was finally here. Thank you God.
Jack took her out to show all of the family our new little bundle! I was in the room getting all sewn up. This part is kind of a blur / whirlwind when I look back at it. I was taken to the room where everyone was and I was able to hold Dawson for the first time. Everyone kept saying she looked just like me. Ha, I didn't really see it. I am really bad at telling who babies look like! I think she is a good mixture of both of us. We stayed in that room a little bit and then went to our room we would be in for the next couple of days. I just held and starred at our little miracle. Jack changed all of her diapers the first day. I couldn't get out of bed until 5am the next morning. We had a nurse come in and she asked Jack if he wanted to watch her change the first diaper or if he wanted her to just instruct him. He said he wanted her to instruct him so he could do it while she was there watching him :) He scored a perfect 10! It's amazing watching the man you love so much instantly turn into this perfect father. As if I didn't already love him to the moon and back - I didn't think I could love him more until I saw him holding out little babe. What a sight.
My first time to hold her. Excuse my 4 chins, they were a hot mess. And to think that morning I actually thought I looked good. Ha!
Dawson had to have an ekg in the hospital. They heard a little mummur that needed to be checked out. The doctors assured us it was nothing to worry about. They found a little tiny hole in one of her chambers and had us make an appointment with a cardiologist in the upcoming weeks (I will touch more on that later). Again, Dr. L assured us it was very common to hear a little mummur and it was nothing to worry about. So we tried not to, even though as a parent, you hear something about your child's heart and you immediately worry. We decided just to listen to the doc and put it out of our minds until we went to meet with a cardilogist.
More to come later.
