sunshine in november. vol. 2

i am sitting here, snuggled in my apartment, sipping on some yummy cranberry cider. my sweet husband and daughter are napping. it is a beautiful thing. i have time to finish my story!

so.

they confirmed labor. i think that was around 11 in the morning. we were admitted and my amazing mama was with us as we went to our delivery room! i had to walk there, and i was in tons of pain - - the pain meds i had been taking had almost worn off by then. i couldn't believe that we were having our sweet little girl... that she was really coming! OH i forgot to mention one of the ways that Jesus is so awesome! the sweet amazing doctor that we talked to on the phone the night before, was the same doctor that would deliver miss maggie! Jesus was so gracious and kind to give me her, seeing as she calmed all my fears before. Anyways, they checked me a million times and poked me with needles. i waited to get my epidural, i wanted to see how long i could go without one. at around 1pm i decided that the body shaking pain was enough and had them give me the epidural. which i think means i made it nearly 7 hours without one. meanwhile my sweet, wonderful husband was by my side, reading me bible verses to calm me down and to help me meditate on what the Word said. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13 that was my labor verse. i could not have gone through labor without hearing and praying that verse.  

after i was dilated to a 5 for like 2 hours they finally gave me pitocin to help speed things up. and it totally did. they gave me the lowest amount they could for an hour and i had started dilating much more quickly. out in the waiting room we had our sweet friends, Justin and Heidi and their son, Dylan, our good friend Jon, and my family. i was visited by all of them, and also by my grandma and my aunt margaret, and my aunt lana. it was nice to see people considering we had been there for so so long. they broke my water and discovered that miss maggie had meconium in my amniotic fluid. which meant that the NICU nurses would be in our room to suck out her lungs as soon as she was born.  by about 8 they said that i was dialated to an 8 and so we called my sweet, lovely friend Kara who was taking photographs right after birth for us. she got there and i was at a 9. she read to me out of the bible, held my hand, and just encouraged me. the LORD had blessed me with all the right people there. it was awesome. 

 and then things got a little bit stressful. 

i started pushing at 10pm. 

yeah. got there at 6:30am and didnt start pushing until 10pm.

it was a long day. with no food, no water. just ice chips and an iv to stay hydrated.

i went into pushing really exhausted. 

after a small ammount of time, they started gettting worried about miss maggie. her heart rate showed that she was getting a little bit stressed. so the Doctor sat down and had a serious conversation with us about C- section. 

Nick and i prayed and prayed that the LORD would not let that happen. 

they had me wear an oxygen mask and try pushing, every other contraction. which is a really hard thing to do. 

things were getting closer. miss maggie was making her way out... and then our doctor, my sweet sent from the LORD doctor, suddenly had to go. 

she was called to do an emergency C-section. 

God is so, amazing, and good, because what he did next was just what i needed. 

i kept telling nick, "i cant do this anymore." "it is too hard, i am too tired" (its nearly 11pm, or later by this point) i kept talking about the ice cold sprite i was going to drink after... and dreaming of the food i was going to eat. i was getting so physically exhausted. 

the nurse (who happened to be a midwife as well) started helping me push. between her and Nick i made some really good progress. too good. because they started freaking out. they called in a midwife, who's name was amy. my nurse told us that she is much kinder than the doctor delivering our baby, and i said, "well then she must be an angel." and that she was. 

she was incredible. she helped me stay focused. she coached me so lovingly. it was like i had known her my whole life. i love her.  pretty soon i started feeling like i knew this baby was coming. i had to push. i couldn't stop. i was tired. i wasn't pushing well. as it was nearing midnight another doctor came into the room. before i knew it nurses were everywhere, people were talking quickly and i needed to get this baby out! the nurse came over to me and tried intoducing herself. i just told her, "i dont care who you are, just get this baby out of me!" and then amy, my sweeter gift from the LORD, tried to leave. i grabbed her arm and begged her to stay. she was keeping me focused. then, at 12:06 am on november 14 our sweet, beautiful, maggie pearl was born. i looked at my baby, i looked at my husband. and i felt this newness about us. i felt so many emotions. i fell in love with maggie, but before that i fell in love with nick all over again. i saw his face as he looked at his daugher and then at me. i saw his happy tears. and then mine poured from my eyes. our baby was here. that little girl that we prayed for, that we loved, that we read to, that we laughed and dreamt about. she was here. my sunshine came to me that morning. and my relationship with the LORD felt new. everything did. and it still does.

miss Margaret Pearl MacEwen was 6 pounds  13 ounces and 20 inches long. 

her eyes were as bright and big as her mama's, and her chin-- and exact replica of her daddy. 

she is beautiful. 

she is golden.

she is lovely.

she is our sunshine. 

maggie pearl.

** i will post a photo blog about all of this next!** 

xoxo- A