Following a Rainbow : Gwendolyn Sue Weber

She's here!! And, she's perfect! We welcomed Gwendolyn Sue Weber into the world at 10:00AM on Thursday, August 8, 2013. She weighed 7lbs. 9oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Pure perfection from the top of her head to the tip of her toes!

We had to be at the hospital at 5:15AM for my scheduled C Section at 7:15. When we got there, the nurses had already had a busy morning and were prepping for an emergency c section, which meant that I'd be pushed back a little bit. My nerves were OK with that, but my growling stomach was not exactly happy that I'd have to wait even longer to eat! I was hooked up to the monitors to make sure everything was going OK with baby girl and me. As I was waiting, I kept having some pretty intense pains - I'd been feeling what I thought were just intense braxton hicks since the night before. But, to my surprise, I was having real contractions!! They were about every 4-6 minutes. Part of me was hoping just maybe since things got pushed back, I'd magically go into labor on my own! Especially since as we were waiting for news on when it was our turn, another nurse came in and let us know that there was going to be another emergency c section! So, we just sat back and waited.

We finally heard word that it would be about 9:30 when we would head back to the OR. My parents came to keep us company and of course my heart was aching knowing that Jameson was probably wondering why he couldn't come see his baby sister yet (the night before we talked about how he was going to come see her after he woke up). Surprisingly the time went super fast and before I knew it, I was hugging my parents goodbye and walking back to the OR with Darin.

Darin waited outside the room while I got the spinal put in and got all set up. I remember with Jameson that I was so happy when he was able to come in and hold my hand. Just having him by my side, being able to squeeze his hand and look into his eyes totally put my nerves at ease. Especially because I was so super nauseous from the spinal and thought I was going to either pass out or get sick. Luckily, I didn't do either and Darin helped calm my nerves, especially when Dr. Santiago let us know that it was go time!

They started making the incision and I could feel that tugging that I had forgotten all about. But, I knew it meant I was one step closer to meeting my sweet Gwendolyn. I squeezed Darin's hand and listened for Dr. Santiago to tell us when it was about time. I heard him say she had hair and then I didn't need him to say anything further because she sure made her presence known with her cries! But, hearing those cries was something I had been waiting to hear for so many months. I was sobbing the second I heard her and then when they brought her around the curtain, I could barely control myself! She looked just like Jameson and my heart was so full of love. As soon as I started talking to her, she opened her eyes and fixated on me. She even moved her neck so that she was facing me. It was amazing to stare into her little eyes..They took her over to get weighed and measured and Darin went over to be with her. She was only about 10 feet away from me and I missed her already!

The rest of the surgery ended up taking a little longer than expected because I was losing a little more blood than I should have. This was most likely due to the baby aspirin I had been taking throughout the pregnancy. Plus, I had a reaction to the stitches they used with Jameson, so he ended up removing that incision and then used some other stitching that was more like what plastic surgeons use. And, he is quite the perfectionist, so it took awhile to make sure all looked perfect...which I appreciate!! But, as he was working, he told me something that made me realize that everything really does kind of fall into place. Since Gwendolyn was healthy and just perfect, he wanted to let me know that the umbilical cord was actually wrapped tightly around her neck twice. So, if we would have gone through with the VBAC, it most likely would have ended in an emergency C Section. Whew. That made my whole body shiver and I am just thankful that things all worked out the way they did.

I was finally able to go to the recovery room to hold my sweet little rainbow. She was definitely ready to eat! As we were getting ready, Sara, one of the nurses asked if we wanted her to go get Jameson. Just the sound of his name made me instantly burst into tears - I couldn't wait for them to meet. After a few minutes, he came running into the room and I was a sobbing mess. The look on his face was amazing and the next few moments were just incredible. He came running over and jumped in the bed and then the nurse handed us baby sister. He smiled and touched her little head and then jumped down because he wanted to give her the presents he had bought her! So, he ran to get them and came running back. He was so excited to give the stuffed animals to her that he could barely get them out of the bag! After he gave them to her, he went back to the room with Daddy, which gave Gwendolyn and I a few moments alone. She nursed like a champ and once I hit the 30 minute mark of being in recovery, I was able to go back to the room and introduce her to our families. Everyone was instantly smitten with her and couldn't wait to hold her. I think most everyone was just as excited to finally hear the name!! Darin made sure to keep it quiet until we were all together in the room!

What a perfect ending to this amazing pregnancy journey - or actually the perfect beginning to what will be an amazing adventure. I love you Gwendolyn Sue - more than I could ever put into words. I am so thankful you are here and healthy. You are absolutely perfect in every way.