Well, a LOT has happened in the last four months. I LOVE THAT it's flown by quite a bit though. ONLY, because that puts my sweetheart THAT much closer to coming home. I so love that man of mine.
I marvel somedays about how fortunate I truly am. He is not only my best friend, but my hero too. I admire him so much. He is an AMAZING Dad to our six beautiful children. He's so patient and kind and sacrifices his free time to be with them. They all know how important they are to their Dad and how proud he is of each one. It is a beautiful thing for a child to have such an amazing Dad (I would know. I have one too :-))
Our #6 was born on September 17th. Her name is Angela Isabelle and she is such a treasure for our family. It is amazing to watch our other five children around her. They are all amazed by her, and just can't get enough. They smother her with love and kisses constantly. Not surprisingly, she is the happiest baby we have ever had (to my reccollection). She was smiling when only 2-3 days old, and has kept on smiling ever since. It was especially wonderful that she started smiling so soon, since her Daddy had to head back downrange when she was 11 days old)
We had kept our fingers and toes crossed that Paul would make it home for the birth, and were so happy he did. Ironically, I missed it though. :-)
Explanation:
We were induced the morning of the 17th (two days before Angelas due date). We figured it would be fast and easy because this was my sixth child, and all the other deliveries were fairly easy and quick.(#5 was 3 1/2 hours from start to finish = I was induced)
Well, they started the induction, and a few hours later, nothing was really happening I was having fairly consistent contractions But just wasn't progressing much. The day started to get longer, and longer. Eventually, I was getting contractions right on top of one another and intense ones at that. After about an hour or so of this, I KNEW I had to be close to delivery (like with the others). They checked me, and I was only a "4" (we need a "10" people. ;-) ) and her head was NOT coming down. The Doc said that her head and fused together too much, and was not shifting like it needed to, to make it down the birth canal.
Well, at this point I am QUITE out of it. I have gone un-medicated for my other births, but needed something. The stuff they gave me luckily took the edge off, but unfortunately made me dizzy and queasy and I couldn't think clearly.
IT was decided that I would need a C section. They were going to just give a spinal block though, so I could stay awake and Paul could be in the room. Let's just say the anestheisologist (I'm SURE I spelled THAT wrong. ha ha), was not very good at ALL. They told me it wouldn't hurt, it would just feel like pressure, and that it would be easy. TEN POKES later, he STILL couldn't get it, and it HURT! And not to mention they had me sitting up through MAJOR strong contractions.
They eventually had to put me under.
THUS, I missed the birth. Paul was able to watch from the operating room door though, and was the first person to meet our angel.
It took a couple hours for me to wake up, and when I did, I had major blurry and distorted vision, so I couldn't quite see Angela. BUT, she was here, safe and sound, and she was worth it! We came to find out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice too, so thankfully there weren't problems there.
IT was because of the difficult circumstances required to bring her here, that I think she has decided to have such a wonderful disposition. ha ha. She sleeps wonderfully, and is just a happy child . I just can't get enough of her snuggles. I adore this little bundle.
Well, that's it for today. I'll try to update on everyone else soon.
I just have to say, I am truly blessed. I feel fortunate every day for the beautiful spirits in my life! Life is good.
