World - Meet Our Little Girl

It was 3:49 pm last Thursday and I was exhausted. My mind was wondering how many more pushes it would take when the nurse said, "KayKay, look down." At first it didn't register but when she repeated the command, I opened my eyes after pushing and looked. To my surprise, I saw a small, little head with wet, matted black hair emerging followed by a wrinkled little face and quickly a small, frail body. I opened my mouth in awe as my daughter was placed on a towel on my belly and the doctors, nurses and the rest of the neonatal team let out their congratulations and sounds of excitement over seeing her arrive.

Since I had requested that I have time to bond with her before she was taken to be measured and ran through the APGAR testing, they immediately moved her closer to me and I placed her newly born body next to mine and began speaking softly to her of how glad I was to meet her and how much I loved her. She was perfect. She was beautiful. And she had finally arrived.

After 13 1/2 hours of active labor, here she finally was and I was ecstatic. Exhausted but ecstatic. I could hardly believe that I was finally holding her and was seeing the usual response that always thrills me and awes me. The look on her face where she stopped crying and got this look like, "wait, I know that voice. I know who this is." And the settling that comes as she laid down her head and stopped crying.

Weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces, she is our largest baby in weight. At 20 inches, she is our second longest baby. Arriving at 40 weeks and 3 days, she is the second longest pregnancy I have endured and her labor was the 2nd longest. She handled it great and I got what I wanted. A vaginal birth without assistance. God was good and gave me the strength to wait until it was time. And the doctor did not feel any tearing of the uterine wall where Andrew's incision was made. Thank you Lord.

By the end of the evening, we decided to name her Lynn. (A pseudonym for this blog like her brother's names.) And within an hour of being born, I got another present. She began rooting and I nursed her. It was a wonderful feeling and so satisfying after a week long starting and stopping of labor daily.

And now as I write this, she lays in her bouncy seat with big, blue eyes open as her pajamas display pink elephants and the phrase, "My Peanut". A nickname my mom used to call me when I was growing up.

Of course, I have told her about Andrew as I have told her about all her brothers. And I cherish that this time, we got to hold her right away. And this time, we got to bring our child home when I came home. And this time, we enjoy how our sons giggle like giddy school boys when they look at her and relish having a baby sister. This time we celebrate God's grace in our lives to bring both baby and I through safely and in good health. We celebrate our newest addition and know that Andrew is celebrating right along with us.