What A Blessing!!!!!

Ok, so the last time I even opened my blog was in September...I was 7 months pregnant and had intentions of writing a post every week until Callie got here and then proceed after that. Well, needless to say life happened and I got busy. Right after my first post I started a long-term sub position, got put on semi-bedrest for a week and a half, had a baby (the biggest blessing of my life after my salvation) and mommyhood began. Alot has happened in the past few months but I have finally found a happy medium to the chaos and can finally sit down and write!

I would like to go back and recap the end of my pregnancy just to get everyone up to date and then move on to more present happenings!

I started having contractions during my 35th week. Way early by anyone's standards and they were always 5 minutes apart. We live an hour away from Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta so I was not thrilled with the false alarms. With this being my first pregnancy, I didnt know what was normal and what wasnt. Thankfully, I have an amazing mid-wife who would sit on the phone with me answering all of my questions! So the contractions would come and go through weeks 36-39. Once I hit 38 weeks I went to the Dr having contractions every 3 minutes apart. At this point they told me no more subbing (you think??? lol) and I was not allowed to go home to Ellijay. I was on semi-bedrest at my parents house in Roswell. Not only were we packed for the hospital but we had to pack just to stay in Roswell. It was madness. I was in so much pain with pressure and contractions that I begged my Drs to let me go to the hospital early and have my scheduled c-section. But they werent having that because Callie's lungs might not have been developed enough (point taken!). Regardless of my discomfort I wanted her to be ok so we actually stuck it out until my scheduled due date 11/25/09.

My c-section was at 12:00pm and we had to be there at 10:00am. I couldnt eat anything past 4am so my precious and loving momma got up and cooked a HUGE breakfast (gravy and biscuit, eggs, and bacon) at 3am just so I could eat and not be sick. So at 10am my wonderful husband and I walk into the hospital like two little kids on the first day of school. We were anxious, nervous, scared, excited...every emotion you can think of was all over our faces.

Casey was a trooper and my rock! He was so strong and comforting. I was calm but that nagging feeling of panic kept rolling over me..not because I was about to be a mother but because I was about to get cut open. I kept praying to God that if anything happened to me, to please take care of Casey and Callie and to help him raise her. I even prayed for Casey to find someone that would make him happy and be a good, caring mother for Callie. Its very tough praying for a person who would take your place if something happened to you but I wanted Callie to be loved and looked after and to have a mother...even if it wasnt me.

I got to see my family before the surgery which was great and at 11:50 they took me back to get my ephidural and prep for surgery. Casey was not aloud in the OR at this point so it was just me and Callie. I didnt like that at all but we made it! Once they got Casey seated next to me they started the surgery and Callie was out in 5 minutes. She had so much hair was screaming as soon as she came out. I loved her immediately! The nurses whisked her to the nursery and Casey went with her. I was in surgery for about 45 minutes after that and then was taken to recovery. Everything went perfectly and 6 hours later I FINALLY got to see and hold Callie Grace. She had a slight breathing grunt so the nurse would not let her leave the nursery. That was a long 6 hours!

We went home that Saturday and the journey finally began.

When I think about the 9 months of pregnancy that seemed to take forever, it really was only a short time in the whole grand scheme of things. I loved being pregnant and would not trade that for anything but having my little blessing here with me is something that I cant put into words. She is now 2 months old and Im sitting here looking at her thinking where has the time gone??? We made it through her first Thanksgiving (in the hospital...she was born the day before), her first Christmas which was sooo much fun, and her her first New Years. Time is flying by me and Im trying my hardest to keep up. I would always just laugh when people would tell me "enjoy every minute because they grow up so fast" but I find myself saying the exact same thing because it is soooo true! I love Callie Grace Richards more than anything in this world. She is the greatest thing that I have ever done and will ever do. Being a mother is the most rewarding experience that anyone can go through.

Well now everyone is pretty much caught up...I am truly going to make an honest effort to keep up with my posts. This has been very good therapy to sit down and write. God Bless!