.: 04.17

Our sweet baby girl is here!! She is now officially 9 days old! And we have kept her alive this whole time! HA! It's a slight miracle!

Oh we love her so much! Dora Lillian Tibbitts was born April 4, 2017 at 9:22 pm. She weighed 5lb 14oz and measured 18.5 inches long! A tiny little thing. In fact, Daren asked the nurse if the scale was wrong because she was so small. At my last ultrasound they said she was weighing 7lb 2 oz...boy were they wrong!

So here is the story...

We were suppose to check into the hospital Monday night around 8pm. We called and they were super busy so they said they would call back around 9:30. They called and said it would probably be the middle of the night, like 1 or 2 in the morning. Kind of annoying...we had taken Bear out to James and Susi's and hung out there so now we had to drive all the way home and wait. We went to bed and waited...and waited...when we woke up about 6:30 the next morning, there was no phone call. So I called and they still didn't have any room for us. I felt like Mary with baby Jesus...no room in the inn! They said it would probably be another couple hours. I wasn't super nice to the nurse...I was just super frustrated. She ended up calling back about an hour later and said to come in as soon as we could. So off we went! We got up there about 8:15 in the morning, got all checked in and got all the meds I needed.

Now it was a waiting game...a very uncomfortable waiting game...I tell you what...I am not made for pain. Not at all. Mama don't like it. They were finally able to give me something to dull the pain before I could get my epidural. It helped for the most part. After a while, they checked me...still at 1. I had been at a 1 for 2 weeks...so they broke my water...hours later...still at a 1. They were getting ready to give me an epidural and pitocin to help me start progressing. They did give me the epidural...mama loves those! However, with every contraction, baby's heart beat would drop. They watched it for a while. Basically, I was at a stand still. I wasn't progressing but they couldn't give me anything to help me with that because they didn't want to stress the baby out anymore. After 12 hours of labor, the doctor decided to take the baby via c-section. And about an hour later, baby was born!

I will tell you...I did not like the c-section. It gave me major anxiety. I think between not knowing what was going on, the meds, all the pressure and prodding that you can't really feel but at the same time, you can feel it. I hate laying on my back and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was not in a good place mentally. Poor Daren...he was trying to comfort me but I couldn't even look at him because I knew I would start crying. I remember her being out and hearing a little cry but being worried because she wasn't crying super loud. Daren said she was. I also remember being shocked that she was so small. It was shortly after she was out that the anesthesiologist came me more meds to calm me down and they knocked me out! Like so hard! I don't remember much after that until I was in the recovery room with everyone.

Now...for pictures! Lots of them! Also...I needed a hair dresser for up there! Looking a little homeless! HA!

From what I hear...my mom was quite emotional and the first to hold her...after her daddy. Mom was the last! HA! Thanks to the drugs. We had my entire family there and Daren's parents too. I am grateful they were all there to meet her! She was wide awake while meeting everyone! Almost like she was memorizing faces.

We were in the hospital for 4 days. We had lots of love and visitors. Recovery hasn't been too terrible. I am sore and slow to move but overall feel quite good.

My good friend, Mindy, had her baby the day after I did so we went and visited her. She was just across the hall from us. Little Doree and little Nona...besties already!

When we came home, we of course introduced her to Bear. He was SO excited to meet her. Seriously. I have never seen him give any child any attention. But he has been so attentive to her and following us around. When she makes noise, he comes in to see what's wrong. The first few nights he slept underneath her or on our bed. He is a protective big brother!

We have been home almost a week now and have been doing good! My mom was here for a few days, my brother came up for the day. We had lots of visitors and friends come to say hi and meet Doree.

We love our tiny little girl and so far she has been a great baby! Hardly ever cries..more of a whimper/whine. The first night home was rough but since then she only gets up once a night and sleeps great! She is starting to be awake more, mostly in the morning.

Baby Doree also got to meet Grandma Dora, who she was named after. It was a such a special time! Grandma Dora just loves her already!

Daren has been AMAZING! Helping with whatever he can, getting up with me and making bottles, cleaning, cooking, laundry. I am SO grateful for him! And he is so good with baby Doree. It makes my heart grow a little bit bigger every day!

We also had our first trip to the pediatrician for her first check up! She is almost back up to her birth weight and doc says she looks perfect and healthy!