We've shared her birth story with many, but for those who are interested, here's a shorter version than if you actually talked to either Jeff or me. We still can hardly believe it played out the way it did... not what we expected. In retrospect, we wouldn't change a thing.
In an effort to not look as foolish as this story probably portrays me, let me just say that my three other deliveries were all long and slow. No hurry during any part of them.
5:45 am - I woke to long-awaited contractions. They weren't close together, so what's the hurry?
We made a big family breakfast, showered, tidied rooms, got the kids ready for church and told my mom to come up, but assured her there was no need to hurry. Little did I know.
This picture was taken at 8:45am, once I wasn't able to talk (or stand) through contractions any more and realized we didn't have as much time as we thought we did. We sent the kids to the neighbor's and were off.
This picture was taken at 9:30am (she was 6 minutes old) at our hospital that Google maps would tell you would take 34 minutes to get to from our home.
How did we do it? Jeff was running red lights, driving double the speed limit, and passing slow Sunday morning drivers. And as I told him I wanted to push, he just drove faster. My hero.
I never had a desire for a natural birth, so when the nurse said, "you're complete", it took me a minute to come to terms with what was happening. But 10 minutes later, there she was. It all happened so fast, it was actually really hard to process once she was in my arms. I kept saying, "You're here! You're real!". It was love at first sight.
I wish I could say I was calm and collected through the whole thing, but honestly, if I hadn't been breathing through the strongest contractions of my life, I probably would have ripped the heads off of those calm nurses at the receptionists' desk when they asked me to sign paperwork. All I could do was sign and breathe! In their defense, they hopped into action as soon as they realized this was happening NOW.
So, our little Anne is here, and we are all madly in love with her.
My three girls and proud Daddy...
and big brother, Jack...
Anne's middle name is after my incredible Grandma Ottley whom Jeff and I both adore. Grandma will brag about how she and Grandpa were an integral part of our courtship, and she is right. We were lucky to have Grandma come over to meet our little Anne LuRee this week. Love you, Grandma.
