365 days later...

Monday, September 15th, 2008, after the doctor's appointment, I went home and contractions started becoming a little more frequent and more painful. By 20 til 5 they were 3 minutes apart for a half an hour. I called out to Bryan telling him it was time and he rushed downstairs immediately, grabbed the suitcase and we were off headed to the hospital.
He kept wanting to speed the entire way there but I reminded him that the 5 minute drive would go a lot faster if we didn't get pulled over or into a car accident. So he slowed. I kept getting a giggle in my throat because I couldn't believe it was happening. That I was truly in labor.
We got to the Baby Center at about 5 and the contractions were growing stronger. They put us in a room and had me walk around to make labor stronger. I kept having to stop in the hallway with my head on Bryan's chest, making my way through a contraction and being reminded to breathe through it. After two hours they decided to admit us.
We were moved to a birthing room and got settled in. By now the contractions were at an 8 out of 10 and I was beginning to cry a little. Soon it was at a 10, my contractions were off the scale and I was sobbing. I asked for an epidural and my (very kind) regular doctor said to get me out of my misery although I was still at 1.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.
A half an hour later I received the epidural, which was amazing, at about 10pm and the only thing that hurt about it was the tape coming off. Owie.
I was able to rest for an hour and a half and when they checked me again and I was at 7.5 cm dilated. Relief. He broke my water which was an extremely weird feeling. I was like I was peeing a thick liquid and couldn't stop or start it.
They waited until I was complete and then I started pushing. I prayed throughout pushing for our safety. I was pushing fine but Amelia wasn't moving too much. They could see her in the canal but she just wasn't progressing. The doc was getting worried because her heart rate kept dropping from 180 to 70. It fortunately kept going back up but my doctor wasn't going to keep it up because he didn't want her becoming stressed. He said it might come down to a c-section. I pushed one last set and she just wouldn't budge. C-section.
I was scared but remained calm. I would do whatever it took to keep our baby safe. I prayed it wouldn't come down to one but since it had I again prayed for our safety. I just wanted my baby safe.
We went into surgery and I was getting prepped. They spread my arms out like a cross and put a monitor on my forehead. I remember my doctor touching the scaple underneath my belly and it hurt a bit. So they upped the epidural. Then he started. And soon I could feel him tugging at her. It didn't hurt, it was just weird. Bryan got to see her pop out and said she was bright eyed. They brought her to me and I got to see that beautiful little face. They gave me more drugs and I was out for the closures.
After they were finished they woke me back up and got me ready for recovery. Bryan went and showed his parents and my mom (the brand new, proud grandparents) the pictures. Amelia stayed with me and we bonded. It was pretty amazing. The rest of the morning/day I was pretty delerious, in and out of consciousness and getting to feed ...and it was great. She is the most wonderful, beautiful creature I have ever seen.
And it still remains so.
She babbles, laughs, walks, crawls, cries, screams, throws tempertantrums, gives hugs, is tall, is funny, charming, sweet as pie, is trouble, eats people food, (tries to) eat dog food, is amazing. I am more in love with her today than yesterday and I am all the more excited for the future.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this beautiful miracle you have placed in our lives. I am forever grateful.