I witnessed one of the most miraculous things in my entire life, child birth. My sister, Leah, invited me to be with her and her husband in the delivery room at Kennestone Hospital when she delivered her first baby. I am so grateful for Leah and how close we are. I can't imagine not being there, after all was said and done.
Violet Pearl Thompson was born November 9th at 2:20am weighing 6lbs 4oz 19in of pure perfection.
Here's the story:
Leah called me on Monday afternoon telling me that her water broke and they were headed to the hospital. I made my way to the hospital about an hour later to find her getting set-up and checked out. If you know Kerry, he came prepared with a bag of candy (twizzlers, mints, and snacks) among other things and I brought myself and my laptop.
The nurse explained the contraction and heartbeat monitor to us so we could see the contractions as they were happening which was very cool. I had also brought a book that I was reading and read out loud to Leah to get our minds on something else while Kerry ran home to get a couple things and grab something to eat for us. Leah was a trooper and held out for a while before she decided on the epidural. I watched everything and I mean everything. I was so interested and concerned for her well being. I am so protective. She was a champ during the epidural, holy cow that needle was long. After that, smooth sailing. I swear she didn't feel anything...and when she did, she just gave herself a couple more taps of the drug. I would see a large contraction and say "wow, that was a big one, look" and she'd say "oh, wow." It was so surreal.
Come around 1am her nurse came to check on her and to her surprise said that Leah was ready to push. Her doctor got there shortly after, got her ready, and Leah started pushing. I had one leg and an arm and Kerry had the other. Her doctor was so calm and sweet with Leah. I was encouraging Leah, telling her she was doing so well with every push she made. I would tell her that we were so close to seeing the head, it was just amazing. One the head was out, it was just another push until Violet made her entrance into this world. A cry just escaped me as I witness this true miracle right before my eyes, in 30 minutes time. After that and seeing me cry, Leah started crying. Kerry cut the cord and Violet was placed in Leah's arms before she went to get cleaned up. The uniting of Mother and Daughter in that moment was so beautiful. I was the designated picture taker so I made my way to the scale and captured Violet there. She barely cried. She was definitely a skin to skin baby. She liked feeling close and secure and with you.
The moment I got to hold her after she got cleaned up was a feeling I certainly can't explain. Violet and I bonded in that moment. I felt like she came knowing my struggles and how special this experience was for me.
Soon after, we were moved to the recovery room. All of us were going on zero sleep. There wasn't really a place for me to lay, of course Kerry had dibs on the bench/bed thing and Leah had the bed. I asked Leah if she cared if I went home because I was so tired. She didn't want me to..so what did I do? I got in bed with her! Now don't worry, I used about 1/16 of that bed space but at least it was something. Right after we got situated, in came breakfast. So, both laying down, I fed Leah as she was holding Violet. It probably really was a funny scene. We were delirious. We got very little sleep but enough to hold us over. New mothers really don't get much sleep. I knew this, but experienced it with my sister in the hospital. I was so proud of Leah as she learned to breast feed, was taken care of after delivering and grateful I was there to help her and capture sweet moment of this experience. Seeing Violet bathed for the first time was so sweet and I was able to capture that moment for Leah while she was being taken care of by the nurses. Kerry's mom and sister came to visit Leah the next day and some of her sweet friends came to visit her while she was there also. Since my parents had recently moved to Virginia, they came a little over a week later for the Thanksgiving holiday and my mom stayed for about a month after. I had to leave that evening for Dance Team practice and to get some z's but I was there the next day after work with Tom to see her again.
Kerry was great during this and I'm also thankful to him for letting me experience this so closely with Leah. It was truly something I will never ever forget and am better because of it.
Here is a picture of me and Violet in the recovery room and a beauty shot taken by Tom.
