Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Hello from Sarah

Good morning family and friends!

Well, it's 6am in the morning on Wednesday, and I SHOULD be sleeping as Kieren and Casey both are, but I can't shut my mind down! It's all too much to take in at this point! Thank you SO much for all your prayers, congratulations, and well wishes - not to mention all Kieren's first visitors. We feel abundantly blessed to have all you in our lives to share this miraculous time, and we are so thankful for you!

What an experience this has all been - words can't even describe it. I will share bits now and continue to use the blog to share what's going on in my heart and head. But I would love to share ANY part of it with you - so just ask! We had a rollercoaster weekend as we thought I was going into labor on Saturday night, got ourselves all packed and ready, and then I just turned out to be really sick with stomach 'bug' symptoms all Saturday night into Sunday day. It was pretty miserable, and we're still not sure if I was in labor and my body was 'cleansing' or if I did have a bug. Either way, on Sunday night Casey went to youth group and I started to have cramping, but wouldn't let myself get too worked up about it. Once he got home after 9pm, the contractions started coming and I decided to slowly get a shower and get myself ready to go to the hospital. In the shower I had about 3 majorly painful contractions and realized it was time to go NOW to the hospital. The contractions came on really quick and were extremely painful. We rushed to the hospital, were rushed to our room, and once checked learned that I was 9cm dilated (you start pushing at 10cm). This was my one 'outburst' moment, as I cursed knowing it might not be possible to get my magical drugs because the labor was progressing so quickly. Other than that, I kept my mouth honoring God :) The pain was intense but the doctor stated working on getting the epidural while nurses went into quick action to get all else ready. Somehow, by God's grace, the anesthesiologist got to me in time, gave me the magical epidural as I was having contractions and writhing in pain, and everything could finally slow down. We then waited 45 minutes to start pushing so we could relax for a second, take it all in, listen to some music, and pray together. Then we started the pushing process, and I pushed for 45 minutes and Kieren was in our world! Casey was the BEST coach ever - very encouraging, calm, and a part of everything. He was amazing. The whole experience was perfect (now that I can see it from this side and know that my story included an epidural. Praise GOD!).

Kieren made her first bowel movement before delivery, so she had to be taken to a special nursery to remove all the fluid and be monitored a bit. Basically she ate her own poop even before entering our world. Nice. She is very healthy now, and made a quick recovery, as Dad watched and I got cleaned up and moved to our new room. We have been at Rex Hospital for 2 nights now and it has just been a dream. The only ways I can describe the feeling of having Kieren here and being a mom, is that all seems RIGHT with the world now, and I have never been in such peace. She is perfect and beautiful and just having her in my arms brings me all the joy in the world. Our time at the hospital has been wonderful - the staff here is so great at their jobs and wonderfully kind and encouraging. We have had so many visitors, including the new grandparents (my parents) from Charlotte which has been a blast. I have been having a little pain and am a bit sleep deprived, but recovering really well and just honestly enjoying each moment.

We will head home today, o pray for us as our daughter comes home for the first time! We will continue to update the blog, but if you have 'facebook,' check out Casey's page for more pics. We would love you to come by for a visit, we just ask that you call to check first. And if you have called and not heard back, we love you and will call back soon! Thanks for all the joy you have brought us by sharing in this time, and we feel so blessed that Kieren already has so much overwhelming love!

Lots and LOTS of love,
Sarah

3 comments:

Amy said...

Yeah!!! A post from Sari! Praise God for the epidural! :) I love your mention of the "outburst"...it made me laugh. I love you! And your sweet little family. I look forward to meeting Kieren one of these days. Love you guys!!!

Emily said...

Sarah, You don't know me from Adam (that's the saying, right?) but I grew up going to MUMC and was friends with Casey for a long time. I have been following your blog for a while but have never posted a comment. But...I have to post a comment to this post. Congratulations mama!! I had a baby a year ago and I know exactly what you are talking about. My labor, too, was very fast (not as fast at yours)..but very fast. It can be very overwhelming. I must ask...who was your L&D nurse. I had Anne and I LOVED her. Also, who is your OB? I go to Atrium and Zimmerman delivered Emma. Also...amazing! You and your new family are in my prayers. I know how hard recovery can be...expecially with a quick delivery, so I will pray for quick healing for you. Enjoy this time God has given you!! It is such a blessing....and, maybe one day I will get to meet you. In Him, Emily :)

Anonymous said...

hooray for sari! thanks so much for writing. i'm so glad to hear that everything went well. i still CANNOT believe how quickly you progressed, you lucky dog. :) i hope that you are able to take the next few weeks just to relax, sleep when you can, and just get to know your new little life. send a Chanda e-mail when you can.