Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Well, it's time!  Time for me to park my buns in front of the computer and (finally- now that my mom is here and can babysit while I type) write about the best day of my life....(equal to the day Lucy was born). Piper Everly Gilley made her grand entrance into this world.  And let me tell you, she is the sweetest, most beautiful little thing to grace our family during the Christmas Season.  I could not have ever asked for a more perfect Christmas gift.  Shawn and I have said many thanks to Heavenly Father for bringing her into this world safe and sound.  She really is the Sugar and the Everything Nice part of our lives.  Her sister brings the Spice, but Piper is the sweet stuff (and I LOVE both the Sugar and the Spice equally!).

Here are the details of her birth:
I was scheduled for an induction on Tuesday, December 18th. I could NOT wait because my due date was the 23rd and I wanted to be sure that I would have my baby as far away from Christmas as possible.  So my doctor fit me in on the 18th, but the only bummer was that the only time we could get started was at 5 AM.  It was a very early morning for us!  I was super excited, and Shawn was super tired.  The night before, we dropped Lucy off at her best buddy's house (Adeline) to spend the night.  It was a sad goodbye for me because it was my last night that she was my only little one and I couldn't spend those final hours with her.  We said prayer together as a family and I started crying in the middle of it as I thought about the last 19 wonderful months of my life revolving around this sweet little blonde hair, blue eyed beauty rocking to sleep in Shawn's arms.   I whispered I loved her and headed out the door.  It's hard to explain the feeling in my heart at that moment, because at the same time I was ecstatic to know I would be having Lucy's sister in just a few short hours.

I was so excited, in fact, that I only got 2 hours of sleep that night- I was tossing and turning and thinking all night long.  When my alarm went off at 3:45 AM, I was already awake and hopped out of bed, eager to get the day started.  We left our house at 4:45 AM and made the quiet drive to the hospital.  I was checked in quickly and hooked up to all the monitors before 6 AM even rolled around.  The pitocin was administered at 6:30 and this is when the minutes began to draaaaag along.  Shawn was so tired he couldn't even open his eyes.  I don't understand how men can get "SO exhausted" while their wives are in labor.  With both babies he was able to take naps while I sat there in labor.  Lucky guy....
 
Anyway, at 8:45 my doctor came in (FINALLY) to break my water (it's always such a weird feeling when they do that).  After she was finished, they upped my pitocin and the contractions began....Oh boy did they start fast.  One minute I'm telling my nurse, "yes, I am starting to feel them a little bit."  The next I am begging for my epidural and shaking as they hit me faster and harder than ever.  This is when Shawn gets up and starts the rubbing of my feet and telling me I'm doing a great job.  Good thing, cause if a man is napping during THIS part of labor, I don't think he'd be alive to witness the birth of his child.  Haha!  So the anesthesiologist comes in to administer the epidural, and he misses the first time and hits a blood vessel (sorry for you squeamish readers) and. it. kills.  Oh man it hurts!  But he can't take the needle out of my spine until the next contraction so I am feeling this horribly painful pinch in my spine for 90 LONG seconds.  I wanted to die.  He tries again a few minutes later and it goes in correctly, but Piper is positioned in a spot where she is blocking the medicine from coming through and I can't feel it's effects.  I was MISERABLE.  To make a long story short, eventually after all the repositioning they did and doubling my epidural medicine (I have no clue what it's called) my body finally responded and I started feeling that amazing, pain relieving numbness take over.  Ahhh, I love epidurals :)

(**Shawn says I need to add in that he did some push ups before the bad contractions started so that he could "wake up" and get his adrenaline pumping to offer his support.  I want to add that I had Christmas music playing the WHOLE time during labor because I wanted my baby born to the happiest music on earth, and December is the only month you can get away with that.**)

SO-back to my story... the clock was continually ticking and I was getting impatient.  I wanted my baby!  So I begged the nurse to re-check me to see when I could start pushing.  She assured me that it wasn't time but agreed to check anyway.  Well- guess who was right? ME! Because she said, "Oh my goodness, you're at a 9!  You can start pushing as soon as we call your doctor in."  Hallelujah!  So we wait a little bit and medical people start hustling in and out of my room to set it everything up.  It's getting exciting now!  Shawn and I keep smiling ear to ear knowing we would meet our little one soon!  My nurse came back in and said "Ok, the doctor is out in the hall so lets do a practice push."  She says go and I start pushing until she says "never mind! Stop! Your baby is RIGHT THERE and she is about to come out if you continue."  To which I asked "right where?  What do you mean she's about to come out?  I expected to push for a long time!"  But nope, Piper was ready.  Dr. Hennesy walks into the room at that point, still putting on her gloves, and they tell me to push because I feel so much pressure and I want her out!  Three pushes later, the loudest, sweetest cry in the whole wide world is heard and someone yells out an Apgar score, another yells out the time (12:15 pm), Christmas music fills the background, and an angel is placed on my chest and ready for her cord to be cut by her Daddy.  It all happened sooo fast but thinking back on it I can remember every single perfect detail.  As my doctor handed me this baby, Shawn and I said "SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE LUCY!"  Hahaha and boy, oh boy, does she.  She is her big sister's twin!  It is incredible.  The only difference is that Lucy came out with brown hair and Piper came out blonde.  I also think she will have brown eyes- and she is beautiful.

Piper Everly came into our lives on December 18th, 2012 at 12:15 pm.  She weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.  She is absolutely perfect.

I won't go into detail about my hospital stay because every story is the same- chatty nurses, no sleep, needles poking at you non stop, etc.  But I do want to mention the ONE memory I have that means so much to me.  Shawn (sadly) had to leave for the night to be with Lucy so it was just Piper and me together in the hospital alone.  On the 19th, we woke up to a Winter Wonderland outside.  The world looked beautiful!  As we were up on the 3rd floor of the hospital, we could look down and watch as big snowflakes swirled around.  My hospital room was very warm and Piper was undressed and under my gown so we were skin to skin.  I turned on my Christmas music again and closed my eyes and smelled my precious newborn baby.  Her scent is just heart warming.  It was one of those moments I will never forget.  Me and my sweet new angel cuddling alone in the warmth of my room while the world outside turned white...  There couldn't have been a more perfect start to our new life together.

I now know what every mom with more than one baby talks about- how much your heart opens up to the new baby and still has just as much love for the one you already have.  My heart wants to burst when I watch Lucy love her sister.  The first moment they met, Lucy was in love with Piper.  She was so excited and couldn't stop staring at her and wanting to hold her and touch her and kiss her.  It's the best gift a Mother can ask for- having a Christmas baby and watching her and her beautiful older sister sharing those first tender moments together.  It is priceless. 
We came home from the hospital 24 hours later and settled in as a new family of 4.  Piper is now 12 days old and we have definitley had our ups and downs already, but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING.  Lucy loves her sister, that's for sure, but she has her moments of jealousy and neediness from her parents.  As I feared, she has shed a few tears as she realizes that it's not all about her anymore and that Mommy has to divide my time for now.  It breaks my heart when she cries out for me and I can't hold her because I'm nursing Piper.  But my mom reminded me that in the long run, I gave Lucy the best gift in the world- a baby sister who someday will become her best friend.  She is adjusting and getting better each day.  She hugs and kisses her sister daily and I couldn't be happier.  I am SO blessed!!

Now that I have written a novel, I will shortly add that we had a great Christmas.  Shawn stayed up with Santa until 4 AM setting up Lucy's new trampoline.  It was a long night for him, but a perfect day for us.  I made a traditional Chrstimas Eve dinner with enough appetizers to feed an army and I cherished the holiday with my family.  I recieved my best present from Santa and had the best Christmas ever.  Lucy had SO much fun opening her gifts this year and playing with all her new toys.  She is one spoiled little munchkin! She was in heaven.

Piper is SUCH a sweet baby and super mellow and sleeps all day.  She is such a good sleeper and always so content.  She can sleep through Lucy yelling in her face in excitement and she just gives you a feeling of peace when you hold her.  I don't know if it's possible to feel more pure joy in my heart than I feel now, but if it is, I welcome the future with open arms.

Piper Everly, Mommy loves you more than ALL the leaves on ALL the trees.
Thank you for joining our family.  You are SO LOVED and you have blessed Daddy and I with the true gift of happiness.  You are amazingly beautiful and have such a sweet spirit, I don't know how I got so lucky.  You and Lucy are my everythings and I couldn't love either one of you more.  Never, ever forget that.
Thank you for being you.
Love,
Mommy