Jerrod and I went to bed around midnight, and I was feeling pretty good. I was prepared for Thanksgiving Day. On Thanksgiving Day Jerrod and I always go to my Mom and Daddy’s for breakfast, watch the Macy’s Parade, go to his Mamaw’s for lunch and then come back later to Mom and Daddy’s for our holiday kickoff by watching Christmas Vacation. This year Jerrod, Daddy and Ellen were going to go on a hike while Mom and I watched the parade (they really don’t care about watching it). So my alarm was set for about 7 am. About 5 am I woke up and went to the bathroom and I felt like something was a little weird. I woke Jerrod up and said, “Honey I think my water broke.” He rolled over and said, “Nah you just used the bathroom on yourself.” About 30 minutes later I got back up and sure enough my water had broken! Jerrod turned to me and said, “Well I guess you’re right.” We both then said well what should we do? Neither one of us had really thought it out since Leah was not due to come for 3 more weeks! I consulted my what to expect when you’re expecting book and it said to call the doctor. We called the answering service and they paged the doctor on call for us. About 5 minutes later, Dr Arze called us back. Jerrod answered the phone and he told him he would meet us at the hospital. I wasn’t having but maybe one contraction about every 15 minutes so I really felt okay. I was so calm and collected it was very unlike me! I think Jerrod was stunned! I pulled up a list my friend Heather had emailed me of things we needed to take to the hospital and also looked at my book and told Jerrod what we needed to get together. Jerrod loaded the car and even though we only live 2 miles from the Specialty Hospital and could have anyone run to our house and get what we needed it was comforting to know that we had pretty much everything we needed. As I walked from the car to the nurse’s station my water began to “break” even more. We got to the nurses desk and I said, “My water has broken and Dr Arze said to come on in.” The nurses said, “go on down to room 139 and get undressed, we’ll be there in just a few minutes.” I did what they said and got in the bed. They came in to check me and said that even if I wasn’t dilated but my water had broken that we would be staying. I thought great I’m crazy, my water didn’t break and I’m probably going home. Well sure enough my water had broken. The nurses told me to get comfortable and Dr Arze would be in to check me. He got there a few minutes later and I was dilated 2 centimeters. I filled out my paper work and figured I better call Mom and Daddy. Since she was expecting us in about an hour for breakfast I’m sure she wasn’t ready for this phone call! So at 7:30am I called her and said, “Well, we’re at the hospital and my water broke.” She squealed like she always does when she’s excited! I told her to take her time and I’d see them shortly. Jerrod called his mom and dad and his dad was getting ready to deep fry 5 turkeys! He also told them to take their time that it was going to be awhile. So we got ready for our little Leah to arrive. I sent out a mass text message to all of my friends and family members as did Jerrod. It’s a good thing we have unlimited text because there was a ton coming back in! I wanted to watch the parade so Jerrod turned on the tv for me. After some time passed, Mom and Ellen got there and I began to have contractions much closer together. Dr Carter went on call after Dr Arze left and I was so excited! I love her! And it’s pretty funny that Jerrod told her on Tuesday we would be seeing her that weekend! I was ready for my epidural after the contractions got closer. It took FOREVER!!! The anesthiologist was taking forever to get there. Finally after my epidural I was feeling good, tired but good. Dr Carter continued to come back in periodically and check me. About 2:30pm Dr Carter said that she wanted me to start pushing. So I pushed for quite some time! During all that, Mom and Jerrod kept saying she’s got a head full of hair! I was so excited because I wanted Leah to have hair! And I had enough heartburn to justify this child to have a head full! At 5:10pm, Leah Aubrey was born! She weighed 7 lbs, 12 ounces and was 20 inches long! If she would have waited 3 more weeks I can’t imagine how big she would have been! I was exhausted! Almost 3 hours of pushing but she was finally here! Jerrod brought her over to me for my first look and she was beautiful! Words cannot describe the love that I felt at that very moment. She was my little girl and she was beautiful, healthy and all I could ask for. Jerrod took her to the nursery and to meet those waiting in the hallway. Unfortunately during labor and after I threw up just like I had my whole pregnancy!
On Friday we had several visitors and it was wonderful! Several of Jerrod’s family members and some of our dear friends came by to meet our little bundle of joy. Thank you so much to everyone who came to see our little Leah! Since my family gets together on Friday after Thanksgiving for dinner all 16 of them came to see Leah after they ate. They also brought me my long awaited Thanksgiving meal! I was so excited that I finally got to eat some turkey! There’s just something about your own family's way of fixing things that are just the best in the world! It was delicious! They all passed Leah around and ooohed and aaahed over her! I was so happy for them to be there and share this joy with us! I am extremely close to my family and it was such a blessing to have them there especially since Grandmother and Grandaddy were not with us anymore. As everyone was leaving my cousin Sarah bent down to tell me that Leah was going to have someone to play with in July because she was expecting! I had told Jerrod and Mom about a month ago that I felt like she was pregnant and boy was I right! What a wonderful blessing for our family! We’ve had a rough year with the passing of both Grandmother and Grandaddy. It is such fantastic news and I am so thrilled for her and her husband, Jason!
On Saturday we got to go home and it felt so good to be there! Nothing is better than your own shower and bed!
Now I completely understand what everyone meant by it will all be worth it in the end! I couldn’t imagine my life without her now! Also I sure am glad my sister took my pregnancy pics since Leah was born 5 days later!
