At the hospital...

We arrived at the hospital Thursday morning at 7:30 am after getting the kids off to shane & Chelsea's & G-ma & g-pa's house. Naturally, I didn't sleep more than my normal 2 1/2 hours the night before, but excitment, fear and my 40 extra pounds were keeping me wide awake. After changing into my super sexy gown, wiping things down with Lysol wipes and saying a silent prayer, I hopped in bed and waited for the fun to begin. After my first exam, my nurse said, "Oh my, your body is SOOO ready to have this baby." Yeah, I told her, "My doctor has been saying that for almost 2 weeks! At 9:00 AM, God sent an angel to my room and I recieved my epadurial. A little after noon, they added a little pitocin ( I didn't need much to get me to a 10) and after 30 minutes of horrible contrations and 18 minutes of pushing, she was here! Willow entered the world at 1:45 PM weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. I couldn't have asked for a better experience... Trav & Andrea helped through every minute of it, my nurses were incredible, Willow was healthy and I felt really great after I lost 15 instant pounds!
I was once again reminded of God and his amazing plan, his miracles and his love for me. I just layed there in awe of what he had just given Trav and I- and although I lose sight of that everyday, I was so grateful to be reminded of how blessed I am to be a Mother. With tears in our eyes, I think we both gave a silent prayer to him, thanking him for our beautiful family.
After she arrived, I think I ate those 15 pounds right back- I was starving and didn't care at the embaressing amount of food I was consuming. I felt wonderful afterwards and visited with friends and family for the next several hours. Trav picked up the kids from G-ma and G-pa's house earlier and brought them to see us. The kids were pretty excited to see her and a little shocked that they really were! Trav took the kids home and stayed there with them overnight. I closed my eyes for a combined total of 15 minutes and was a complete zombie by morning, not to mention sore and in LOTS of pain. We survived it all though and were able to leave around noon (we stayed to have lunch though!)So, at 1:00 PM we were leaving with our little angel off to pick up the girls ang get home in time for Tristin to get back from school.I layed down for a hour, took some Advil and then quickly realized there would be no sleep for me with 4 kids in the house, so I gave up my dream of sleeping for a few silent hours and just asked God to give me a few minutes at bedtime.
Angie brought us YUMMY dinner last night which we devoured, and then Trav got the kids ready for bed while I relaxed, took a bath and fed Willow. I must admit my joy when I realized I slept 60 consecutive minutes last night! No interuptions! Although I'm still a walking crazy woman, I feel a little better than yesterday. There's nothing like giving birth, that's for sure!