It has been a while since I have updated! In my introduction I stated that we would have a fourth child, Lord willing, in December. It is now February and the Lord was willing! Our baby girl will be two months old this week. She is a precious addition to our family. We are all enjoying her. Her big brothers and sister have been a tremendous help. Bringing home a newborn with older children (all 5 and older) has been a different experience from bringing home a newborn with 5 and under children! My oldest child is now 10 years old and an extreme help around the house with cooking, picking up, and with our dog.

Our daughter came in to the world differently than my other three. She is our first since my husband joined the military so my first experience at a military hospital. Originally, I was a little upset and worried that I wasn’t going to be able to have the same doctors and nurses that I was used to. Before he joined, I was a labor and delivery nurse so I was obviously really familiar with our hospital and staff!

Prior to her birth, I had about a week of prodromal labor. On the day she was born we spent a few hours that morning at the hospital with not many changes. A doctor, who turned out to be the one to deliver her, allowed me to go home to labor and a nurse that I will never forget sent me information to help her change positions so labor would progress. I went home around nine in the morning and took a nap, a bath, tried the positions that she gave me, and before long it was time for my husband to take me back to the hospital. We arrived just about twenty minutes before she was born. I was only in the labor room for three minutes! It was such a whirlwind. I have not had an epidural with any of my children, but this was my first to also have no pain medication at all. I don’t say that to brag. I say that because I am so proud of myself for sticking to my goals. Each labor and delivery is a personal experience. Our bodies are amazing and I am continuously in awe at how God created us.

I was so proud of myself and the support that the medical team gave me. The day she was born was the first day that I had ever seen the doctor who delivered her! He was fantastic. Everything worked out just fine and the way it was supposed to.