Welcome to the world, sweet girl.

I promised myself I would blog throughout my whole pregnancy, but little did I know Mike and I would be purchasing our first home together and moving in just weeks before giving birth. So, needless to say, that's what we were doing for the whole 9 months; settling in.  Our new home is wonderful, spacious, homey, and more than we had ever imagined.  The most exciting part was that we knew we would be bringing our daughter to the place where she would take her first steps, jump her first rope, have her first fall, and grow stronger and wiser every day.  We knew it wasn't just a house, it was so much more than that. 

My pregnancy was, for the most part, fairly easy. I did get referred to a high-risk pregnancy center to monitor the length of my cervix as this can be a sign of pre-term labor. Well, no worries there as I went past my due date by 2 weeks. The weeks leading up to meeting our daughter were not easy.  The anxiety kicks in and all you want to do is to finally FEEL labor, and to meet this little person that you created. Huge s/o to my amazing husband who passed those long days with fun activities & outings.  They were SO worth it.

My doctor decided that my pregnancy had gone on long enough, and that if we waited any longer, the baby could become toxic.  She induced me on March 30th, 2014.  The first few hours of labor were hard, my contractions were strong, and sadly, my doctor was no where to be seen.  I ended up laboring all night long, without seeing her 1 time. She finally came in my room at about 6:50 am (10 minutes before her shift ended) explaining that my labor wasn't progressing as quickly as they had hoped.  I was in so much pain and in no mood to ask her where she had been.  I figured I would deal with that later.  She informed me that a Dr. Lloyd would be taking over from there. I didn't care at that point WHO delivered my baby, I just wanted it to be over so badly. 

Little did I know that this Dr. Lloyd was sent straight from heaven.  He is a 66 -yr-old, trained military doctor, who was so kind to me.  I knew that moment he walked into my room that he would be the man to deliver my baby. He held my hand, looked me in my eyes and said that we would be having our baby soon. Music to my ears! 

He then explained that my previous 15 hrs of contractions and pushing were a waste of energy as the baby was still very high up and over my pelvic bone.  We would have to administer pitocin to make my contractions stronger.  The thought of my contractions beings any stronger was almost unimaginable.  Ten minutes after the pitocin was administered, I looked at my husband and said "I don't know if I can do this."  He held my hand and looked me deep into my eyes and assured me that indeed, I could do it. For the next 6 hrs straight, I pushed on every single contraction.  This was the only way to avoid a cesarean section. I am sorry, but any kind of surgical procedure that is named after Julius Ceasar, I'll gladly pass on. 

Those 6 hours were by far the most exhausting hours of my life. At 2:00 pm, Dr. Lloyd came in and checked my progress. He looked relieved as he felt the baby's head and I was fully dilated. It all happened so quickly after that.  My room filled with support staff, nurses, trainees, etc. to assist in the delivery.  Just 14 minutes later, my husband and I saw our daughter's face for the very first time.  She didn't cry loudly, she just wimpered a few times with her sweet little voice.  She looked directly into Mike's eyes and we knew our lives had so much more purpose.  As I held her for the first time, I promised her I would never leave her.  That I would always be by her side.  That I would never give up on her. That I would love her forever.  She is pure and lovely.  She is so loved and treasured. 

They say it's a love you have never felt before.  And it's true, there isn't anything like it. It's so much more than an emotion or a feeling. It's more than just an experience.  It's a new life that brings to the world so much hope.  She is a bright light.  She is a gift. But mostly, she is my life's greatest accomplishment.

I so clearly saw God that day.  He gave us this child to raise and uphold in His image.  Thank you, Lord for our daughter, Jane Alexander Hammonds.