Week One- "Honey, I just love her so much."

Wow. It's hard to put into words the first week of Millie's life. Lots of things happened. My favorite surprise- we took very careful notice of the color of her poop. From black to brown to yellow to green. It ran the gamut! Both of us quickly learned to change the diapers with lightning speed. And the breastfeeding... oh, the breastfeeding. I so wanted to be the world's best feeder, and it just didn't happen. She had a bad latch and I had a lot of pain. It's so amazing how such a little being can cause so much damage. It's still a work in progress, but we're making it. Bryan was reminded of his coaching techniques in that first week. I used some of my Lamaze breathing when she was latching. She lost some weight right away, actually a whole pound. When we went in for her check up the doctor threatened formula supplementation. Oh, no! This wanna-be world's best nurser was not up for that! So I did a ton of reading into week two and we made our next appointment and prayed that she would gain some weight. Of course, we really didn't sleep much in that first week. That first night we got a taste of our little babe's tummy troubles and learned her amazing ability to pass very large amounts of gas. (Sorry, honey, if you're reading this later.) Bryan and I repeatedly would look at each other and say, "Oh, I just love her so much." or "I can't believe she's this beautiful." We are just spellbound, smitten, and taken by this little girl. It's so incredible to be a part of creating a life.

Charis' first viewing of her Baby "Milwie"

Amillia's first bath. She was a little jaundiced during her first week. Notice how yellow she is next to my very white hand!

Millie's first Halloween! She was a cranky ballerina! Ha! Thanks to Koby for this super fun outfit!

Thus our adventure begins...

After 21 hours (from what I call the beginning of my labor), I started feeling the urges to push and finally was fully dilated. I'll never forget the hour before she arrived. The people there with me were- Debbie the nurse, Bryan (Coach of the Year), my mom and sister (who I couldn't look at or I would cry), my aunt Nicole, Leslie (my awesome RN sis-in-law), and later Dr. Hix. They brought in the mirror so I could watch the process. Bryan will tell you that he was so happy he watched her being born. He says it was "the coolest thing he's ever seen." I pushed for about 40 minutes with everyone cheering on. It really was a defining moment of my life. I never felt so important as those moments. I never have wanted to work so hard in my life. I never wanted something SO bad! I was doing lots of shaking uncontrollably and I was so incredibly thirsty, but all I wanted to do was keep pushing. Especially once I saw her little head crowning. We all couldn't believe it when Dr. Hix said that the saw dark hair. We just knew that she wouldn't have any hair at all or be very blond like we were. (Her hair is starting to turn blond now at 6 weeks, by the way.) When her head finally came out, the waterworks started. I just could not believe that she was here. I don't really remember pushing the rest of her out, but I just remember weeping for joy at the sight of my little girl. She gurgled and screamed and choked a little bit on the fluid, but quickly quieted when the nurse put her on my chest. We introduced ourselves and she just stared. :-) I loved that she recognized us right away. Bryan was able to talk to her more when they were doing her measurements and such. One thing I won't forget about our miracle girl is that her umbilical cord was tied in a knot. So at some point in her growth she swam a little circle and tied it up. That could have been fatal, but God had and still has his hand on her. He was there. I know He was. My mom asked Him to be. And thus our adventure begins...

Lots of pics from Amillia Elizabeth's birthday

8 lbs. 1 oz.; 19 3/4 inches long; born 6:09 PM October 28th, 2008

"Thank you, Jesus, for epidurals."

So, my story left off with my receiving of the (and I quote Baby Mama) "dangerous toxins for my own selfish benefit." The next few hours were spent unsuccessfully trying to catch up on sleep, enjoying the company of my family, laughing, and waiting. Waiting...waiting...waiting... I stayed about the same progression throughout the day. I finally progressed to 9 1/2 centimeters, but the cervix would just not open all the way up. The doctor then suggested that I take some Pitocin to help the process. Dr. Partridge would have delivered if Amillia started coming while she was still working in her office upstairs, but luckily I got her husband Dr. Robert Hix. Even though medical induction methods were against my birth plan, the process was taking long enough. I was ready to see that she was here and, more importantly, healthy. Another thing that made us nervous was the way that she was turned. She was head down, but turned with her face to the side which is not ideal or the safest way for the baby to be delivered. My nurse (Debbie) had me try some different positions of lying to help promote her to turn. They gave me more doses of epidural to alleviate the intense pains I was starting to feel since Amillia's position was blocking some of the medicine. I was really starting to feel those contractions again at one point on my right side. I started getting nervous that I was about to deliver like Eve! (I'm such a wimp!) I remember when the epidural did kick in and I was on my hands and knees on the bed (covered, of course) and I was telling my favorite "pirate" Halloween joke which is not all that appropriate to be posting on my blog. (I'll share privately if anyone would like...) Bryan tried to tell the "brown chicken, brown cow" joke, but failed miserably. We were all so tired and ready for our girl. After the position changes, Debbie said she had good and bad news. Good news- Amillia had turned and my painful, hard work was successful. Bad news- she turned the wrong way- completely face up...

More delivery day memories...

This is the sleepy/silly state:

My Aunt Nicole who was a super coach

Baby by Sunrise...

Early in the morning of October 28th (4:45 am to be exact), Bryan and I arrived at Willow Creek Women's Hospital. When we would leave the next day, our lives would be totally different. When I went to the triage for a progress check amid those incredibly painful contractions that I mentioned in the previous post, the same sweet nurse (Holly) was there to greet us. The first thing I said to her after saying hello was, "If I get admitted today, how long before I can have an epidural?" She laughed. When she checked me I was progressed to 5-6 centimeters. For those who don't know labor talk, that means I was over halfway ready to deliver. So I had done half of the tough work at home. Holly smiled and complimented my toughness for staying at home so long. I met Dr. Duke (one of Leslie's favorites) and he told me that he thought we'd have a "baby by sun-up." I think he was quite sleepy after a long shift and had his times mixed up because it would be (*spoiler alert*) 6:09 PM before Amillia joined the bright world. Bre arrived first and helped Bryan do some major back massage during the contractions. Have I mentioned how great of a coach Bryan was? Mom arrived soon after and by 6:30 I was in a room with an epidural on the way. Leslie helped me get the epidural faster because she volunteered to help do it. I sure owe her! I was going through a contraction when the anesthesiologist did it- that was really fun! But once that epidural hit... I was a happy girl...

Here's a post-epidural pic or two. This one is Bryan and I reenacting a contraction with him coaching me through it. I'll never forget his forceful commands of "Look at me! You can do this!" Sometimes a bossy girl needs to be bossed around a little to not give up!

"I don't know what to do with my hands!"


Mema and Nini playing the "waiting game." I was so happy that I packed that blanket because I was very shivery.