Welcome, Little Eden!

Here is the story of the first few days of Eden into our family:

On Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. my water broke.  Here is a picture of the kids are on their way to the Perry's and Mom and Dad are going to the hospital. Hooray! 

We packed over night bags, just in case, although I was sure we would be done before bed time. 

Carter has been so excited for the baby to come, especially because he was right on the gender of the baby the whole pregnancy. 

I had been contracting for the 10 days prior, pretty strong and sometimes regularly, so I thought that labor would start pretty quickly as soon as we got everything squared away and were at the hospital. After I was on the monitor for a few minutes, I had a contraction that was three minutes long, and baby had a deceleration of the heart rate for about five minutes after that. It freaked me out and got me all nervous (I know too much and have seen too many crazy labors turn out not as planned) that my mind decided to not go into labor. And, I really didn't have a contraction again for about two hours. Her heart rate was fine after that, but I just couldn't get my mind to relax and feel good about things. I told Ben I needed to lock myself in the bathroom and just go into labor. He told me to do whatever I needed to do. So, I tried music, I tried a long bath, I tried reassuring myself that everything was OK and to just go into labor!! For the love, nothing worked. My mind just wasn't right and I am amazed at how much control I had over things. I could start a contraction  but if the nurse came into the room, it would stop. It was crazy annoying. 

Sometime in the hospital before labor really started.

About 9 p.m.  the doctor came in and checked me. I was 3 cm, and wanted to start Pitocin. I was okay with that since nothing was happening and I was starting to get tired. After all, I had done 3 miles on the elliptical at 6 a.m. that morning and I missed my nap in the afternoon. :) I didn't want to spend all night doing nothing.

So, Pitocin started at 9:15, regular and strong contractions were going on by 10ish. At 11:15 I had the nurse check me. If I was only 4 cm, I was getting an epidural. I was at 7 cm. 

Dang it! Seven is the worst. That means it can be over in 10 minutes or it can still be 2 hours. I knew there was no way I would sit for an epidural and there may not be time for one, I also knew that I needed to stay relaxed as possible because when you are going natural and you aren't relaxing enough, you can stop dilating. So, I did my best. I remember one time with a contraction I could literally feel her head dropping like 2 inches and my body spreading out. It wasn't a fun labor to be going natural with. It did not hurt this bad in labor going natural with Afton. 

Anyway, I still didn't yell or scream or act too hysterical, just at the end when I was going through transition, I had to rip out my hair elastic, rip off my gown and almost ripped out my IV, everything was too constricting and too annoying. And, at this point modesty is out the window anyway and I just did not care being naked. Anyway, I needed to push and the doctor came in, I told Ben to get his gloves on because he was going to deliver, but then I grabbed onto his arms and had him in the death grip and he said, "No, I'm going to stay right here." I pushed and the doctor told me to stop. She was crowning, as hard as it was not to push, and as much as it hurt and burned, I waited a little, then kept pushing and she was born. Just one push, it was so fast and so crazy at the end. She was born just before 1230 a.m. 

 My first words, "I know I said this last time, but this time I am serious, Never again." 

 She was so tiny and cried only a little bit.

I was so relieved and it is amazing how much love you can instantly have for someone who has just caused you so much pain. It is so exciting to see what she looked like and to see if she really was a girl. Yes, SHE was! It's so amazing to hold that little baby in your arms and instantly be so thankful that she is here and healthy and feel so blessed by the Lord for the amazing little gift from heaven. So many emotions all at once. 

Meeting the family:

Everyone was just so excited to come in the morning to meet new little Eden.

 Two proud big brothers!

OK, so maybe not everyone was excited to meet the new baby. I didn't know what to expect from Afton, she did not react like I thought. She was TERRIFIED of this baby, she acted the same way when we showed her our neighbor's puppy. She wanted nothing to do with her. The further away from her the baby could be, the better!

Afton clinging onto Dad

Happy little family

 Now add Eden:

Not so happy Sissy! Baby is way too close! 

She's not scary! She is so sweet! 

This mouth won't bite!

I came home late Tuesday night. No need to spend another sleepless night in the hospital being bothered every hour to see if I needed something or getting vitals done. I can sleep in my own bed and I know that I won't be awakened every hour. 

Home with Eden:

Bridger made Eden a birthday card. It said, "Eden Moose Tippets. I hope you had a good birthday."

Carter all day kept asking,

 "What's our baby's name again?"

Eden.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting!"

(And then immediately to Eden)  "Hi little Moose, you are so cute!"

He loves to rub her hair on his face, he loves to rub her ears and he loves to cuddle with her. 

With the family:

Sissy is still better off at a distance, but it slowly getting closer. 

 Throughout the day, Afton would point to the bassinet and say,

"Nigh, nigh, baba!" and sign baby sleeping.

 (Yes, Afton is still better at sign language than words)

She would hear Eden squeak and run and grab my hand and bring me to her. Well, she would stop a few feet away and point. 

Day three:

Hooray! I knew she would finally warm up to her!

Ben took the kids to Utah on Thursday night to go to Uncle Tom's farm.

Eden and I have been trying not to get too bored enjoying the silence and clean house. 

We have done lots of:

 Sleeping and snuggling, my absolute favorite things to do with little tiny babies!

Eden is doing great. Just eats and sleeps. Bridger just can't wait to see her open her eyes. She does for a few hours a day, but they are mostly closed. 

(p.s. look at her drowning in newborn size clothes! She is so tiny)

Also watching my favorite show, again. 

 And we have just enjoyed being home together, gearing up for next week when Ben is back to work, kids are back to school and we are officially a family of SIX. 

Thanks to everyone and your phone calls, texts, and emails of congratulations and for checking in on us. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who watch over us. 

Here is the girly car seat cover I made.