I know that many of you have already heard our wonderful news, either from email, phone, family, or friends, but I wanted to officially post it to the blog. As usual, it's taken me some time to actually post the details of her birth :)
As stubborn as she was in the womb, Jillian was just as stubborn in coming out of the womb. We like to kid that at first, she didn't know what direction she was supposed to go in, and then once she was well-directed, she didn't know quite how to come out :) We eventually had to have her induced, which began on Monday night (11/16), and would have continued likely into the evening of the 17th. But in pure Jillian-fashion - she wanted to make a dramatic appearance. I was induced starting with a gel on Monday night, which should have allowed me to get a somewhat decent night's sleep before the pitocin was added to induce contractions in the morning. Turns out the gel was all that I needed to push me over the edge for labor. I started contracting within about 45 minutes, and things started to get pretty painful from there on out. My contractions were one on top of the other, without a break in between, and they actually gave me some medicine to calm them down, since they were putting stress on the baby's heart rate. I finally couldn't take the pain anymore (and God bless the women who actually go through a fully natural labor without drugs), and got an epidural at 3:30am. Luckily, that allowed me to rest before the morning. At about 8am, my doctor came in, and found that despite my contractions, I wasn't progressing , and the baby was still having heart rate drops with each contraction, which concerned her. Because of the heart rate problems, she told us that if things didn't improve, we would likely have to have a c-section. That made me sad, but at that point, I had felt the pain of what contractions were, had the short experience of labor, and was just concerned with getting her out safely and in good health. I had my water broken, and we just proceeded from there to see what would happen in the next couple hours.
Turns out, things went quickly from there. Jillian's heart rate began to stabilize, and I started to dilate quickly. We thought we wouldn't deliver until the evening, but Jillian had other plans. We didn't need to have a c-section after all, and would be able to deliver the old-fashioned way. By 1pm, I was fully dilated, and ready to push. After an hour and 15min of pushing, out she came! My goodness, it was the most amazing experience. I can't even begin to describe it. Both Matt and I were able to watch her come out, and overall it was just a miracle. I don't know how anyone could not believe in God after witnessing such an awesome miracle.
So here she is!!! And what everyone says is true - we can't imagine going back to life without her. In the week that she's been here, it's been a whole lot of work, and certainly alot of healing for Mommy, but it's all worth it to see that cute little face. With all of her crazy expressions, we like to call her the baby of a thousand faces. Some are just priceless, and I love the ones I get especially when I'm getting ready to feed her. Can't get enough.
So here are a couple of pictures that we want to share of her first arrival, and first week with us here. Hope that you all enjoy them!!
Love to all,
Matt, Kim and Jillian
1. Fresh out of the womb
2. Mommy and Jillian just after birth
3. Daddy and Jillian
4. My first bath
5. Ready for the Ravens game!!! Go Ed Reed!!
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