Miraculous.

This week Elise celebrates her first birthday.  What a beautiful year our lives have been with her here.  She was the missing piece to our family that we didn't even know we needed.

I realized I never wrote her birth story and her birthday week seems like a good time to write it.

Taylor and I were living in L.A for the summer while he sold pest control door-to-door.  His long hours prevented him from being able to go to any doctors appointments with me.  However, I had a dear friend come with me to almost every one (doctors weren't sure if we were sisters or partners...) and I'm so glad that she did.

 At my 37 week appointment (40 weeks is full-term) my doctor was concerned that I was measuring quite small.  He ordered a spontaneous ultra sound for the next day.  My friend, Stephanie, wasn't able to come to that appointment so I was alone.  The tech took the measurements needed and then left me laying down for so long that I fell asleep waiting for her to come back.  The doctor came in with her and told me that my amniotic fluids were dangerously low and that I was going to the hospital asap (THAT DAY!).  The risks of low fluids include kinking the cord and having a still birth. {heart wrenching to hear}

My heart was racing and I was really nervous for a few reasons:
1. I was all alone.
2. I was expected to go back to work after the appointment.
3. My husband was knocking doors in some random city 30 minutes away and he didn't have a  car.
4. I was still 3 weeks away from my due date and didn't have a bag packed.
5. My phone was dead.


My heart was racing and I was really excited for a few reasons:
1. I was going to the hospital to finally have my baby! Elise was coming!
2. Work couldn't get mad at me for not coming back!!!
3. I'd get to see my mom!

The doctors office let me call Taylor and my mom to give them a heads up.  The doctor also monitored me to make sure Elise would be okay until we checked into the hospital later that night. I checked in at 8pm and was put on meds to induce labor.  I had reasonable expectations for how long it would take for her to actually be born...but I was so very, very wrong.  After 36 hours of waiting, being poked, monitored, prodded and starved there was still not even a tiny sign that she was moving along.  This picture says it all.

Then finally my water broke on it's own and I hyperventilated my way through an epidural.  No one ever told me how awesome that part would be--being on an epidural, not actually getting one.  And the catheter!  Very underrated.

Once I wasn't feeling anything anymore I got to sleep and rest.  I progressed very slowly and I think the nurses began to think I would be a c-section, which is very normal for someone who is induced 3 weeks early.  However, by some miracle I dialated quickly once the ball got rolling and after 52 hours of waiting in the hospital, Elise Harper was born at 5lbs and 6 ounces.  She was 18.75 inches long and the smallest human I had ever held.  She came out screaming like all babies do but as soon as I held her to my chest, tucked under my chin, that precious girl stopped crying and looked at me with the most trusting eyes.  She knew I was her momma.

There were risks of her having an infection and so she stayed in the NICU hooked up to antibiotics.  We were told she wouldn't be going home with us right away.  Taylor gave her a sweet Priesthood blessing and miraculously no infection had gotten in and she was perfectly healthy and very, very happy.

It's been a year now and we know this baby really well.  She has two bottom teeth, bright blue eyes that she didn't get from her mom or her dad.  Soft, straight blonde hair.  And she walks like no one's business, kisses anything with a face, loves the water and other babies and is always willing to "help mom" clean cupboards and empty drawers.

Taylor and I could not love this precious baby girl more.