One year ago today, I gave birth to our sweet, sweet girl. A daughter. Our first surprise at birth. I somehow knew she was a girl, but to hear it for the first time....precious. It wasn't the birth we were expecting or wanting. Our little breech darling even refused to turn with an attempted version. Pretty sure she has a mind of her own. :) Even the timing of her birth--not what was expected. With her two free-loading older brothers taking their sweet time and then some, we were convinced she'd be late as well. Well, she didn't even wait for the scheduled c-section. No, at the stroke of midnight on September 23rd, my water broke much to my great surprise. We called our friend Grace to keep the boys, I headed in for a quick shower, and off to the hospital we drove.
Things happened pretty quickly upon confirmation that my water had broken and baby was still breech. I was very nervous about the c-section. Really didn't know what to expect. The hospital staff took really good care of us, but I still remember being so nervous that my teeth were chattering as I was wheeled down to the OR.
The surgery did go pretty fast, but not as neat or easy as it looks on TV! So they take her out and she's totally quiet. I could tell by the doctor's voice, something wasn't right. Someone called out that we didn't know what we are having and the doctor said, "I'm not concerned about that right now." Scary. Still no crying. Things were very tense for a few minutes. Finally....crying. I start crying; tears of relief. How helpless you feel lying there strapped to an operating table, split open and having no idea what's going on. Ronnie didn't exactly either, though he could see some, but he did an amazing job of comforting me. And then the announcement, baby's a girl. More crying (by me!) Wow....a daughter.
I only got to see her for about 30 seconds before she was whisked off to the nursery to be examined. The cord had been wrapped around her neck twice and she was a footling breech, so feet down. Her left foot was actually pinned up against her leg when she emerged and no one knew if it was broken, deformed, etc. She's fine, perfect in fact, just took some time outside of the tight womb for it to normalize.
Almost two hours after her birth, I finally held my tiny precious daughter. It was sweet. I thought I'd be so upset and disappointed that I didn't get to hold her right after birth like the boys. But when I held her for the first time, it didn't matter at all. Everything else just faded away.
I didn't like the c-section at all, at all. But I would do it all over again for her....without a second thought. And things really get put into perspective when a nurse who assisted with the delivery told us during recovery that 30 years ago or if we lived a third world country, neither one of us would have made it. Footling breeches can be very dangerous for both mom and baby without a skilled OB team. Lest I forget, God is always present.
We had a fun little celebration this evening, just our family and our friends, Tony and Grace and their two daughters, who are practically like family. Gaby had her first bites of cheese pizza, whole milk, and cake, of course. She didn't like the feel of the frosting on her hands and cried through most of it! So funny!
So amazing that a whole year has passed. The first birthday is always very sentimental for me. I sure love this little one. What a gift you are to our family. We absolutely would not be us without you. Love you, Bug. Happy Birthday.
