Anyway - the important stuff:
Mercy Alisa Ward was born July 22, 2010 about 9:20 in the morning. Weighing in at 8 lbs, 3 ozs and 21 inches long. She is delicious. :)
For those of you who like birth stories and want to hear mine - I will give you the nutshell-ish version: I started having contractions the night before around 5:00 pm, which to Jason and I meant nothing really, because my previous children came days after I started contractions. So we were pretty nonchalant about it.
The contractions were ten minutes apart and not very long - all night long, though they were getting pretty uncomfortable as the morning came. Around 6:00 am they started to get longer and harder, so we thought maybe baby is coming today.
I stayed in bed another hour or so and the contractions began to be about seven minutes apart, sixty seconds long and pretty hard. Around 8:00 am we thought maybe we might want to go in to the hospital after all. So we called our sister to come up to watch the kids and I decided to take a shower - well, goooodness, the contractions just switched in the shower, they were coming one on top of the other, I yelled for Jason, as I was beginning to think I was gonna have the baby in the shower. So we put it in high, crazy, "I don't wanna have the baby at home" gear (not that I am against that by any means, but that would mean I wouldn't get to lay in the hospital, have food brought to me on a tray to my bed and little Mercy lay beside me with no interruptions other than, "can I get you anything, Dear?" for about 4 days), got the kids headed to the van when my sister pulled up, so we high-tailed it to town - usually a 25-30 minute drive to the hospital.
I have no idea how long it took us, but I am quite certain Jason drove a touch like a maniac. Not the most comfortable trip to town I've ever had that's for sure, contractions were pretty hard at this point, although, when you are hanging on for dear life, the focus is somewhat dispersed.
Thankfully, Jason had called ahead and the hospital staff had everything ready. My doctor happened to be in the hospital so they paged her when we arrived. Almost immediately after getting into the hospital bed I felt like pushing. The nurse was telling me to try to wait until the doctor came (oh God) when as the next contraction came, my doctor strolled into the room, I started pushing - three pushes later, here was our girl.
We were in the hospital a total of eleven minutes before she came.
Holding my sweetie, I said "That's the way to have a baby! Thank You Lord".
I think declaring her name all throughout the pregnancy made for a merciful delivery. :) She is sooooo precious and addictive. She smiles now, and she smiles with every fiber in her being, time stands still for that moment and my heart is filled to overflowing with pure joy.
What did we ever do without our kids? (besides sleep).
Thanks to all of you who prayed for us and the delivery!
