Today is my baby girl's first birthday.
It's undoubtedly been the fastest year of my life, and yet one packed full of so many amazing memories.
This morning, I woke up to Branch's squeals. I walked down the hall and picked her up, and we went straight to my bed where she fell back asleep. It was 7am. I began to think back on September 29, 2015, when at 7am we were just getting settled into the hospital delivery room. I can remember almost every detail of that morning. The drive there was so strange because I knew it would be the last time Josh and I would ride in the car as a family of two. Downtown looked so beautiful and you could feel fall in the air.
We checked in, I met my nurse, put my bag to the side and began answering her questions. Shortly after, Josh came in. He sat to the side, humming something. He's always humming something. And when he stepped away, my nurse asked if he was a singer...
I told her about the whirlwind of American Idol, how we'd just made the spontaneous trip to the Atlanta auditions three weeks ago, met the judges, and that we would soon be seeing ourselves on TV. It was definitely exciting, but the reality had not set in. Instead, my mind was flooded with anxiety over what my body was about to endure. My Doctor entered to break my water, and soon after, cracked a joke like he always does. My mom and my sister arrived. All the while, I was experiencing contractions that were building in strength and frequency. Here's the timeline my sister recorded in my journal...
12:00pm: I received my epidural
1:00pm: I was checked by my Doctor, 4cm
3:00pm: 6cm
3:25pm: 7cm and told by my nurse that the baby had no hair. I cried, although I'm sure she was joking. My hormones were working the way they were supposed to.
3:30pm: I received what's known as a 'bolus'. Basically, I had to have additional anesthetics because I still had feeling in the left side of my body. After that, I felt nothing except extreme pressure from the baby.
4:11pm: 9cm
5:08pm: 10cm. The nurse paged my Doctor and it was almost time to meet our girl.
By 5:35pm Branch Eisley gracefully made her appearance, with a head full of brown hair. Everyone said the timing was comparable to a textbook delivery. She was so beautiful - all 6lbs and 14oz of her. Time slowed down completely that day, as the reality of our new life as "3" unfolded there at Baptist Hospital. When I held her I just couldn't believe she was mine, and I thanked God so many times that day. I haven't finished thanking Him.
Happy Birthday, my sweet B girl. You're such a dream. Our hearts and our home are so much happier because of you.
