Happy Birthday Sarah!

On Monday, Memorial Day, I finally started to have some labor symptoms. At 8:30am I leaked a little bit of fluid, so I called the hospital and they said call back in an hour and if it keeps happening then I should come in. Well nothing else happened and they just assumed it was pee. (I knew it wasn't) Anyways, nothing else happened, besides feeling like I was on my period, until 5:30pm and I started leaking again. This time a little more and I noticed it had a green color to it, that worried me and I knew it was time to go. So we got our things together, dropped AJ off at Ryan's aunt and uncle's (Brian and Kelly Zufelt), and then we were on our way to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at about 7:30pm on Monday. They checked my water and it did break and there was meconium in the water. So then I got admitted, they took me to my room and since my body had not kicked into labor yet the nurses started me on potocin at 9:45pm. When they checked my water I was not dilated. I labored from 9:45pm to 7:15am on Tuesday. I asked them to check me because by this time the contractions were so strong that I could hardly relax my body enough to handle the pain or the next one coming. So I wanted to see how far along I was to see if all this pain was getting me anywhere. They checked me and I was only 5cm. So, I opted to get an epidural. It was really hard for me, but emotionally and physically there was no way I could have gone another 8 1/2 hours to get to 10cm. Also, I really didn't want to have another c-section like with AJ, and with my water breaking I was running out of time. So, I got the epidural and 2 hours later I was 10cm and Sarah was on her way down the canal. Then she sat there, took a nap for 45 minutes (literally), then sat there some more. By 2pm the doctors thought maybe my epidural was so strong that I wasn't feeling that urge to push. By 2:30pm I was ready to push and at 3:21pm Sarah Nicole made her way into this world and then into my arms. What an amazing feeling and experience it was to push her out, that is something I have always dreamt of doing and I did it! The next part was the worst...the placenta came out just fine, but then my uterus did not want to harden and contract down leaving all the blood vessels open and me bleeding to death. The nurses and doctors then had to knead my stomach for an hour and continually pull blood clots out of my uterus...NOT FUN! After 45 minutes I couldn't handle it anymore and I just started balling in pain. So they gave me another IV and more drugs to numb the pain so that I could not feel it. They were then able to fix the problem and stitch the two tears I got from pushing. I was out of it after that. The whole time I kept looking at Sarah and thinking how blessed I felt that she was healthy and strong.

Sarah Nicole Johnson was born on May 27th and weighed in at 7lbs. 0oz. and she was 20 1/2in. long. She is so beautiful. It is also amazing how much her and AJ look alike, it will be so fun to see how she grows!

Before I start showing the pictures, I need tell Ryan, my dear husband how grateful I am for him. There is no way I could have made 8 1/2 hours with no drugs without you. Thank you for standing by my side through each contraction, for keeping me strong and motivated to keep going. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me to do it naturally. Then, standing by and holding my hand when I decided to get the epidural. Looking in your eyes and seeing your love for me let me know that I wasn't letting you or anyone else down. Thank you for counting and holding my leg when I was pushing. Hearing you helped me more then you will ever know! We brought her into this world together, thank you so much for blessing me with such beautiful children. Thank you also for staying by my side the hour after the birth, I needed you at that time more than ever. I was scared and you kept me safe...I love you with all my heart Ryan, there is no one else I would ever want to share that moment with. For eternity Ryan, I love you!

This is after the epidural...can you tell? I am waiting for that little sweet girl to come out!

Sarah was so calm when she came out.

My first time trying to breastfeed her... there is nothing like holding a newborn!

I love this picture! While I was getting worked on the nurse held Sarah up for me to focus on something else and she said "Look sweetie, here is your beautiful girl, look what you did!"

This was right after she came out. She was just a bit blue so they needed to do some extra suctioning. Luckily also, she only swallowed the meconium, she didn't inhale it.

A proud Granny and a proud Me-ma!

Andrew was so sweet...when he first saw Sarah, he went right up to her and nuzzled his nose to her cheek and whispered "Hi, baby Sarah."

This was her first bath. When they put her in the water she just kicked and kicked! It was so wonderful for me to see all that they do after she was born. With AJ I had a c-section so I missed all the measuring, weighing, and bath.

Me and my little girl!

Famil of 4!

There is nothing more perfect than being a mother! I love all the moments, waking in the middle of the night to feed, helping to put covers on because randomly they forget how to put them on in the middle of the night, changing oh so many diapers, cleaning up tp wads soaked in urine stuck to the ceiling and walls!...cuddling, singing to them, watching them and realizing life is absolutly perfect!

A long awaited nap!