The Story of Elizabeth's Birth

Precious Elizabeth,This story is for you. I have included every detail I could think of so that you have a wonderful memory of the day the Lord chose for your birth day. I could not have asked for a better labor and birth. It was truly an amazing experience. I am so blessed to mother you and have enjoyed every moment of your life so far. Carrying you in my womb for 40 weeks and 6 days was a joy and privilege. You and I went through a lot together - you came to life in Alabama in early January, we moved across the country to Utah during your 21st-23rd weeks of life, we lived in temporary lodging for 10 weeks, I prayed during your 28th-33rd weeks of life for you to turn from breech to vertex or for the Lord to guide my decision making if you didn't turn (and thanks be to God, you did turn!), and then the last 7 weeks of your life in utero, we moved into your first home and the place where you'd be born. Throughout all of that, you were so good to me. I did get sick a few times and my pelvis and sacrum had some aches and pains as you grew, but my pregnancy was healthy and wonderful. You moved CONSTANTLY, which was the most incredible feeling and very reassuring of how well you were doing. I was so anxious those last several weeks of pregnancy to meet you. I could not wait to hold you in my arms. I felt pretty confident that you were a girl, but I kept an open mind so that I wouldn't be shocked if you came out a boy. I will never forget the minute of your birth and the moment I discovered that you were a girl. It was an amazing experience for our entire family and I know that we wouldn't be the family we are today without you. We are all crazy in love with you. Your daddy and I can't believe we have another beautiful daughter to love and nurture, and Jacks and Alli love to hold, hug and kiss you. You are such a sweet baby and an absolute gift from the Lord. Welcome home, sweet Elizabeth!

And here's a song that we, especially your big sister, love to sing to you:
"I love you
You love me
We're the Exum family
With a great big hug (and you get a hug)
And a kiss from me to you (and you get a kiss too)
Won't you say you love me too"I love you too!!!

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To tell the full story of Elizabeth's birth, I have to start the day before she was born. It was Saturday, October 8th and I woke up feeling awful. Jackson and Allison had both had a stomach bug the Wednesday and Thursday before, so I figured it was my turn. As the day went on, I felt worse and worse. Jackson had a soccer game at two o'clock. I was preparing to get ready to go, but I just felt horrible and I was staring to have contractions. I was beginning to wonder if I was going into labor. I prayed and prayed to the Lord to keep me from going into labor while feeling so terrible. I really didn't think I could do it. My body hurt all over and I couldn't imagine managing contractions while feeling like I had the flu. When the time came for us to leave for the game, my contractions were picking up and becoming more frequent. Jason had decided that I needed to stay home from the game because I felt so bad, but once my contractions continued coming, he decided to stay with me and to send Jackson and Allison to the game with our good friend Michelle who was in town hoping to see our baby's birth.

While they were at the game, I got in the shower and let the hot water run over me. It felt wonderful (like it does when you have the flu and your body aches all over) and contractions were coming the entire time I was in there. Jason was timing them while hanging out in the bathroom with me and going over birth stuff. Some of my contractions were 4 minutes long, which is too long and an indication that my uterine muscles were probably contracting in sections. The contractions weren't regular and they were doing bizarre stuff. I hadn't eaten (or drank much) all day. I couldn't. I figured that it might be the cause of the irregular contractions, so Jason made me some scrambled eggs and toast. I took one bite of the eggs and spit them out. I could not stomach anything. We called my birth photographer and told her what was going on so that she could prepare if this ended up being labor. She lives about an hour from us. We didn't want to call her too soon, but we also didn't want her to miss the birth. Since Allison' labor was 6.5 hours, we knew there was a good chance that this one would be about the same or shorter. She and Jason decided that she should go ahead and get ready and head our way. I texted my midwife to tell her that I was having long contractions, had no appetite, and felt a lot of pressure in my rectum. I was thinking this was labor, although so different from my first two labors, but when we talked, she felt like the pattern was too irregular to be labor. I was getting tired and decided to lay down in the bathtub. Lying down felt great, but I thought that if I wanted things to get moving along, I should probably get up and move around. When I got out of the tub, I was too tired to do anything. All I wanted to do was to lie down in my bed. My contractions started slowing down. At this point, I was pretty confident that either this wasn't labor (because it was so different from what I'm used to) or that it was going to be a long labor. I asked Jason to call our photographer and tell her not to come but she was already well on her way. I felt terrible, but she was so gracious and assured us that she would rather be here than take a chance on missing something.

Michelle and the kids got home just as I was getting in bed and at just about the same time, my contractions were almost completely gone. It was kind of an emotional roller coaster for me. On the one hand, I wanted this to be labor because Michelle was here for only a few more days and I really wanted her to see the birth. Also, my photographer, Kirstin, was on her way and I didn't want to waste her time. On the other hand, I did not want this to be labor because I felt so terrible. I wasn't sure how I would manage labor while feeling so awful. I prayed and prayed that I would not be in labor until I felt better but I trusted the Lord to carry me through whatever His good and perfect will was going to be.

I fell asleep in my bed and took a long nap. While I was napping, Kirstin arrived and took a lot of great photos of our home and of the kids playing. Now that Elizabeth is here, I am so grateful for the time that Kirstin was here. She got some terrific photos that I love so much and am so blessed to have.

When I woke from my nap, my contractions were mostly gone. I felt much better and decided to take Allison for a stroller ride. I figured a little fresh air and some walking would do me some good.

I still couldn't eat or drink anything. The only thing that sounded remotely good was Sprite...and I'm not a soda drinker. (I think an upset tummy and a palate for Sprite come from my childhood. I remember my mom giving me Sprite and Saltine crackers whenever I was nauseous.) Jason bought me a bottle and I was able to drink a small glass of it. I got in bed with Allison at 7:30 that night. We read books, sang Bible songs, and cuddled in bed until we finally fell asleep a little after 9:00. I woke up at 10:17, barely an hour later, feeling a million times better. And I was hungry! I went downstairs and got a granola bar and some more Sprite. I only ate half of the granola bar before my stomach felt achy and then I got back in bed. When I woke the next morning, Sunday morning, I felt amazing. I told Jason, "I feel so good. I'm ready to go to church!" We didn't end up going to church because he didn't think it was a good idea to spread the germs, and I agreed, but I was thrilled that I felt so well.

We hung out around the house and then once I put Allison down for her nap, Michelle and I got ready and headed out to search for shoes for Allison. (She had no shoes for fall and of the pairs of shoes she did have, we could only find her Crocs because she has an amazing ability to lose one shoe of a pair of shoes.) As we were walking into Dillards at about 4:00, I had a strong contraction. I told Michelle, "This is what I need to be doing - getting out and walking around to get labor going!" About 20 minutes later, we were walking through the mall to see if they had a shoe store for kids (because Dillards had nothing) and I had to slow my pace because I had another strong contraction. I didn't think much of these contractions because they felt a lot like all of the Braxton Hicks that I'd been having. When we didn't find any shoe stores, Michelle said that Marshalls would have good shoes with flexible soles. We found a Marshalls in Farmington, which was only about 20 minutes from where we were, and decided to head that way. On our way, we stopped at Starbucks for a decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte. For some reason, coffee sounded so good to this non-coffee drinker. When we were in the parking lot at Starbucks, I had another strong contraction. I was wearing a pair of jeans with the low belly panel. Low belly panels are super uncomfortable to me in the last part of pregnancy because I feel like the panel cuts into my belly too much. I was hurting way down low...right about where the panel hits in front...but I thought it was my jeans. As we drove to Marshalls, I had several more strong contractions and once we got to Marshalls, I decided to start timing them. I timed the first contraction at 4:52. We were in Marshalls for over an hour. The entire time we were there, my contractions averaged 45 seconds in length and were 5-8 minutes apart. I felt a lot of pulling in my lower abdominal area, which is exactly what I felt when labor started with Jackson and Allison. I was getting really excited. I felt pretty confident that this was real labor, but I was hesitant because of what had happened the day before. My contractions continued to average about 45 seconds and got a little bit closer together as we headed home. I called Jason and told him that I thought this was it. I called my dad too and asked him and my mom to be praying for me. I texted everyone in our family and told them that I'd been having regular contractions for two hours. I also called my midwife to give her a heads up.
When we got home, the kids were outside driving Power Wheels and Jason was sweeping out the garage - it was a wonderful sight! I watched the kids play and then headed inside to get some things done. I went to the bathroom a little after 7:00 and my stool was very loose. Ah, a sign that my body was preparing to empty itself - of waste and of child! Michelle and I got dinner on the table; although, I was too preoccupied to eat at the time. I knew that I needed to eat, but my mind was reeling with all that I wanted to get done. I like to keep as busy as possible in early first stage because it keeps my mind on other things and makes labor feel like it goes by much faster. I showed the kids the fun stuff that I bought for them at Marshalls, picked up things around the house and in my room, vacuumed, and changed into comfy clothes for laboring. A little after 8 o'clock, my contractions started getting more uncomfortable. Michelle heated up the wonderful Bed Buddy Back Wrap and I strapped it on to soothe my lower back pain. Thanks to my friend Laura Babb who told me about this with my first birth, this back wrap has been with me through all three labors!

Once my contractions started taking more focus, I decided to sit down and eat a bowl of homemade shrimp gumbo. It was around 8:15 when I ate, about 4 hours into labor, and I was surprised that I still had an appetite. I wasn't hungry, but I knew that I'd better eat now because there was no guarantee how long and intense labor would be and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of energy. At about 8:40, I texted Kirstin and told her to head this way because my contractions were getting harder. Up to this point, whenever I had a contraction, I just stopped what I was doing, relaxed, and breathed deeply through my belly. Every couple of contractions, I would lean over and let my belly sag to the floor, especially when it was a strong one. Now, each contraction was requiring me to focus more on deeply relaxing, so I made my way upstairs to my bedroom.

Jason was bathing the kids when I went upstairs. When Allison was done, I dressed her in her jammies. I remember having to stop in between putting on her shirt and putting on her pants because I had a contraction that was really difficult. Right before 9:00, I went to the bathroom and had blood-tinged mucous. I was really excited to see the mucous because it was another sign that things were moving along. I knew that it didn't tell me anything about how long labor would last, but it was still exciting to see the changes occurring in my body. Every time I've been in labor, I've always worried about the people who will be serving me - the midwife, the photographer, the friend taking video, the friend watching my children. Even though I knew this was labor and it was progressing almost exactly like my 6.5 hour labor with Allison, I was concerned that it might be hours before the baby came and I really didn't want people to have to be at my house when they'd normally be sleeping.

I had a few more strong contractions. I texted my midwife Heather and told her about my blood-tinged mucous, that contractions were getting much harder, more painful, averaging 43 seconds long and less than 4 minutes apart, and that I was ready for her to head over if she wanted to. She was in a meeting and told me that she was going to finish something up unless things changed really quickly and then she'd drop it and head over immediately.

Bedtime for my kids had passed. Jason and I really wanted Jackson and Allison present for the birth, so we kept them awake. (Thank goodness they had both napped that day.) When bedtime draws near, Allison wants Mommy. She still nurses just before she goes to sleep. As I saw her getting tired and needy for me, I feared her asking to nurse. I had no idea what nursing would do to my labor and I wasn't sure how I would handle a contraction while nursing her. Michelle had done everything she could to keep Alli preoccupied, but nothing was distracting her anymore. She wanted Mommy and no one else. Even though my contractions were getting harder and more difficult to manage, I felt great in between them; so, I snuggled up with Alli on my bed and nursed her. To my surprise, it didn't appear to have any impact on my labor. I can't remember if I had a contraction while she was nursing. It almost seems like I got a long rest period while she nursed. She didn't nurse for long, but I'm so glad I was able to be with her and to comfort her.

By this time, it was about a quarter after 9:00. Kirstin had arrived and I noticed a shift in labor.

I was really having to concentrate on deep abdominal breathing, total relaxation, and good positioning. The main sign that labor was shifting was that I didn't care about doing anything else and I wanted Jason to be right by my side. I needed him to be with me, focusing on me, and helping me. I tried a lot of different laboring positions to find one that felt the most comfortable. I laid on my left side for a few contractions. It actually felt good, which surprised me because lying down was very painful during my labors with Jackson and Allison. I also sat on the birthing ball. In between contractions, it felt great, but during a contraction, sitting didn't feel great, making it harder to relax. I preferred getting on all fours and letting my belly sag to the floor. I did this in several ways - standing beside my bed and leaning over it, getting on my knees and leaning over a step stool, getting on hands and knees on my bed or on the floor, and getting on my knees while resting my upper body on a stack of pillows. Jason was awesome. He rubbed my lower back and put pressure on my lower belly. My lower belly and back felt really crampy and were starting to hurt a lot more. It was about this time that I remembered, "There is some pain to labor. I forgot that it hurts. Oh, I'm not looking forward to this. I hope I can do it."

I love birthing. I love it so much that the joy of it completely overshadows the time when it actually hurts. I just kept telling myself, "No pain. No gain. The harder the contraction, the sooner I'll see my baby." I focused on relaxing every part of my body during every contraction. I didn't want to fight the contraction because I was ready to meet my baby. I also kept hearing Laura Babb (who was at my first two births and introduced me to the Bradley Method when I was pregnant with Jackson) say, "Relax. Let your uterus do it's work."

By 9:30, my contractions were really strong and I felt like things were going to move quickly. I texted Heather and asked her if she would go ahead and come. She texted right back and said, "I'm halfway there." Wonderful! The timing could not have been more perfect. She got there right when we needed her. Having an extra set of hands to massage and apply pressure was super helpful to me.

At ten o'clock, I was sitting on the birthing ball resting between contractions when a really strong contraction came. I did not want to have the contraction while sitting, but I didn't want to move during the contraction either. Jason was right behind me with his arms around me applying pressure to my lower belly.

He was amazing. Right at the end of the contraction, I felt a painless pop, pop in my lower belly. I thought my water had broken, but no water came out. Jason and I walked into the bathroom and just as I was about to pull my pants down, I felt a small rush of fluid. I said, "Either my water just broke or I peed on myself." Heather came in, looked at my pantyliner, and didn't seem to think it was amniotic fluid from the looks of it. Great. So I just peed on myself?!? Seriously! I didn't feel incontinent, but I guess I was. I sat down on the toilet to go to the bathroom and had another contraction. When it was over, I wiped and there was a lot of mucous and some green specks on the toilet paper. The bits of green did not look good to me. I called for my midwife. "Heather? What is this?" I knew what it was, but I wanted confirmation. For a moment, my heart sank. When Heather saw it, she said, "Oh, I guess that was your water and it looks like that's a bit of meconium." She knew it was meconium. She just said it in a calm way because she knew I was going to be upset. I got off the toilet and looked down into the toilet bowl. It was meconium all right. The water in the toilet wasn't clear and there were green bits floating in it. "Oh no! Do you think the baby is in stress? It probably pooped yesterday when I was so sick and having those crazy contractions." Heather was wonderful. She knew that the baby had pooped sometime in the past 8 hours. She and her sister Janelle (her assistant) had listened to the baby's heartbeat while I had the contraction on the toilet and she assured me that the baby sounded wonderful and was handling the contractions beautifully. Although I know that meconium in the water does not always indicate something negative, especially in a post term baby, if I'm being honest, I felt like a failure. I felt like I hadn't created a peaceful environment for my baby.

Heather and Janelle kept reassuring me that the baby sounded perfect. Since my water had broken, I knew that my contractions were going to come fast and hard. At this point in both of my other labors, modesty went out the window; but not this time. For some reason, I chose to put on those awesome adult diapers (to keep the mess at a minimum from any leaking amniotic fluid) and I put my clothes back on. I had another contraction standing up in the bathroom and then we headed back to my bed. I labored on my hands and knees, on my side, and then back onto my hands and knees. Jason and Heather piled up a bunch of pillows so that I could rest my upper body on them rather than supporting myself with my arms, which allowed me to relax more.

My contractions were coming stronger and faster but I was still able to keep my mind relaxed and focused on good things. I remember asking for candy corn. I LOVE candy corn and it sounded so good. I also was thinking about my sister who was skyping in. Meredith and I both love birth and we both teach childbirth classes. We have wanted to be at each others births since Jackson, but distance and/or timing has never allowed us to be. Thanks to God for making brilliant minds because someone invented Skype. Skype was the next best thing to being in the room, so we skyped her in. Even though I was busy managing tough contractions, I was still thinking about her and making sure she could see and hear what was going on. I didn't want her to miss it!

Searching for a lost candy corn:

Things were moving quickly in my labor but not fast enough for Allison who was fading again and wanting my attention. She was crying because she wanted me to hold her. Her crying was not hindering my ability to relax, but I could tell that everyone else was concerned for me. At one point, Jason brought her up on the bed so that she could be close to me. He told her rub my back and then she rested her head on me. It actually felt great. I told them to just let her stay by me because it wasn't bothering me and it made me feel better knowing that she was comforted by being close to me.

Observing my contractions, Heather knew we were close. It was about 10:30...thirty minutes since my water had broken. They pulled my pajama pants off. I was now down to my super flattering diaper panties. I remember saying that I'd rather be naked and have people see my butt, which is my least favorite feature, than hang out in those adult diapers. Poor Meredith. The computer was on my dresser, which was behind me, so she had a fantastic view.

I felt myself get a little shaky. This is when it was almost impossible for me to relax completely. Jason was holding my hands. I asked him to squeeze them hard. It felt so good for him to squeeze them so that I didn't have to and was able to keep my hands relaxed. Every contraction was so powerful. I said, "I can't do this." Heather quickly replied, "Yes, you can. You're doing it right now. Don't fight it, just let it go." I said, "I know I can do it. I'm just saying that it really hurts."

I had a few more strong contractions and then I realized that I had been tensing the muscles in my butt and was pulling up inside. I teach my Bradley students to relax their Kegel muscle, especially in second stage, and here I was contracting mine without knowing it. With the next two contractions, I made a huge effort to completely relax my butt and Kegel muscles. I have no doubt that it helped things progress, and at this point, I was all about progress. I said, "I'm ready to get this show on the road. I'm ready for pushing contractions. Do you think if I stood up, it would help move things along?" My midwife said that standing can help and that she's also seen women go to the bathroom. Since there wasn't anything on the floor to protect the carpet (no towel or waterproof pad), I decided that I'd go to the bathroom while they put something on the floor and then come back and labor at the side of my bed. Jason walked with me to the bathroom. As I sat down to go, I felt a contraction coming. "Oh no! I'm having another one." I did not want to be sitting during a contraction. Heather suggested that Jason get behind me so that he could offer back pressure. The contraction grew in intensity so quickly that I couldn't even stand up. I tried stretching my body out by putting my hands on the toilet seat and lifting up. That didn't work. The contraction was too strong and the position made me tense all over.

Then it happened. The uncontrollable pushing contraction from my uterus had finally arrived...and I was on the toilet! There was nothing I could do. It was so strong and I just had to go with it. I knew that the baby would be out in a a matter of minutes, so with Heather kneeling in front of me, I put both hands on her shoulders and said, "Heather, get my kids." Michelle had taken them downstairs not even ten minutes earlier to watch a movie and I did not want them to miss the birth.

The contraction was so strong and the pushing was so intense. I could feel the baby's head moving down inside of me. I felt full and tight. Then came the feeling of the ring of fire. "The baby is crowning!" I exclaimed, knowing that no one could see because my bottom was in the toilet. I could not for the life of me figure out how I was going to stand up. I knew that I needed to but I couldn't. Heather said, "Let's stand up." She and Jason, who was still stuck behind me on the toilet, lifted me up. I could not put my feet flat on the floor. The contraction was still going and I could only manage to stand on the tip of my toes with my legs wide apart and bent. I needed Jason to hold me but he couldn't get around me. (We were in the tiny part of the bathroom where the toilet is closely surrounded by walls on three of its sides.) Janelle walked in. I lifted my arms, wrapped them around her shoulders, and said, "Hold me." I was worried because I needed to put all of my weight on her.

I continued pushing slow and steady. I could feel the head as it came out. "The heads out!" I said as I reached down and felt the warm, wet head of my third born. It was amazing! I was so excited to finally meet this precious child. I could feel every part of the baby as I pushed it out. I could even feel the baby rotating as the shoulders, arms and legs came out. It was the most incredible feeling and something that I had never experienced before. (With Allison, I didn't even know her head was out because it came out while I was climbing onto my bed. The rest of her body shot out like a torpedo. With Jackson, everything was so new to me and there was so much intense pressure in my rectal area that it overshadowed the pressure of his body coming out.) This time, I was so aware of every sensation as the baby literally glided out of my body. When the legs and feet were finally out, the feeling was incredible. I felt empty!

It was 10:46 pm. I reached down and grabbed my warm, slippery blessing and pulled the baby up to me. My placenta was at the top of my uterus and my cord wasn't very long, so I couldn't pull the baby all the way up to my breasts. I wanted to look my baby in the face, but I couldn't, so I held the baby close and facing toward the floor so that the cord had more room. I heard an exclamation of delight from Michelle and the kids as they rounded to corner. They had just missed the birth...by seconds! Meredith had missed it too because she was stuck on my dresser around the corner. And we missed getting it on video. Why did I choose to go to the bathroom first! My heart sank temporarily as I realized they had missed the birth and I would never be able to see it for myself, but the joy of holding my gift, my reward from the Lord, was too wonderful to think on those things.

As I held my baby, my heart was bursting with delight. After all the moving and traveling and the prayers for the baby to turn from breech to vertex, it was finally over. I was holding my healthy baby and my heart was so full of thanks. I couldn't wait to look my baby in the face. Then I heard, "What is it?! A boy or a girl!" I hadn't even thought about it! I didn't even know if I was holding my daughter or my son. I couldn't look because the baby was facing down, so I put my hand in between the legs and felt around. "Well, I don't feel anything. I think it's a girl. It's a girl!" Janelle and Heather were kneeling in front of me and they confirmed. It was a girl!!! Our sweet Elizabeth was finally here!!

Holding my daughter against my belly, I made my way over to my bed with my other precious two right at my heels. Elizabeth was voicing those first precious cries that every momma is immediately ready to soothe. Michelle was videoing and chanting, "It's a girl! We have a girl!" And then she said, "That.was.fast! You weren't kidding about how fast that was!" I climbed up on the bed and held my sweet Elizabeth right on my belly, which was now much smaller. It felt so wonderful to finally have my baby out of my body. I could breathe easier. I could bend in half. It was awesome! "Does she look like the others?" I couldn't see her face very well because she way lying on her side facing my side. Jason could see her and he thought she did look like Jackson and Allison.

My family was surrounding me. The moment could not have been more wonderful. Jackson and Allison were on the bed and Jason was at my side. Jackson wanted to know how I could tell that she was a girl. I showed them her lady parts. They were both excited to touch her but a little apprehensive. It's funny. When we're in a store, their hands reach out to touch anything, but now, they weren't sure if they could touch their baby sister! I assured them that they could touch her and massage her and that she would love it. She didn't have a lot of vernix covering her. There was barely any. She had her eyes tightly closed. The kids wondered when she would open her eyes. They were excited, as I was too, to see her open her eyes and to make eye contact with her.

Eleven minutes after her birth, my placenta came and I was finally empty. Janelle checked my placenta to make sure it was intact and that nothing was left inside of me. There was very little blood, but Allison was curious where it had all come from. She got on the bed, laid on her belly right between my legs, and put her head about six inches from my vaginal area. She was checking everything out! It was hilarious. Michelle asked her if it looked okay. Allison pointed and told Michelle to look. Michelle laughed and said, "Yep, I see it!" Then Allison said, "All done. All done." and signed with her hands. It was hilarious and precious. Yes, baby girl, I was finally all done!

One of the many wonderful things my midwives did for me that night was cover me in towels that they had just taken from the dryer. They were so warm and they felt WONDERFUL! Every woman should have the pleasure of warm blankets or towels being draped over them.

Elizabeth starting nursing about thirty minutes after her birth and she nursed for an hour and a half. Her cord was still attached to the placenta and didn't stop pulsing until two hours after her birth! I could not believe how long it pulsed. I learned something new. I thought that the cord would stop pulsing, if it hadn't already, once the placenta was birthed, but it doesn't necessarily. She controls the pulsing of the cord so it can still pulse even after the placenta has come out. We all felt the cord and could feel the pulses. It was so incredible. Moments like that make me so grateful for birthing at home. Nothing was rushed. No one was in a hurry. Elizabeth never left my side. She was able to get all of the blood (and iron stores) that her body needed. She was getting the best start in life that we could give her and I was so thankful.

On my very first mother's day, Jason and Jackson surprised me with earrings that were Jackson's birthstone. The day after Allison was born, they went out and got me a pair of earrings that were her birthstone. Before Elizabeth was born, Jason bought me a pair of opals and he and Allison surprised me with them right after Lizzie's birth! Isn't he amazing!?!

While we waited for her cord to stop pulsing and celebrated those first blissful minutes a new life, we sang Bible songs, listened to everyone's heartbeats, ate snacks, and passed a whole lotta love around!

Once the cord finally stopped pulsing, we weighed and measured her. She weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces and she was 20 inches long. Jackson couldn't wait to cut her cord. With everyone around us, Jackson and Heather set her free. The time was 12:45 in the morning. I put on her first diaper and then everyone had their chance to hold her while I showered and cleaned up. The kids were so excited to hold her and I'm so thankful that Kirstin captured those first moments on camera.

Heather, Janelle and Kirstin finally got to go home between 1:30 and 2:00 in the morning. We said our goodnights to Meredith and Michelle and then our family of five got ready to snuggle in bed together. Just as Jason was dressing Lizzie in her jammies for the first time, she decided to have her first poop outside the womb. The kids were amazed at the black, sticky meconium. As Jason wiped her clean, she kept going, and going, and going. It was hilarious. He would wipe her and then more would come ballooning out. Finally, we just sat there and watched her go until she was completely finished.

It was a quarter 'til three when we finally had her dressed and everyone was in bed. I couldn't wait to lie on my back! For the first time, I was going to hold my newborn daughter close to my chest and sleep peacefully all night long. I was so thrilled to have her close to me and in our own bed. All night, she would be comforted in her new world as she smelled my scent, felt my breaths, and heard my heartbeat. I'm amazed at how well Jackson and Allison did. They were awake for all of it and they were as sweet as could be. It was an incredible night for our new family of five. One son and two daughters. Our hearts could barely contain the love we felt for those children. And do you know what Jason asked me as we were lying there in the dark and taking it all in? "So, what do you think about having one more?"