Everyday Miracles

Can you believe Baby Hope is one week old now?! Time has flown since last Sunday at 6:45 am...
Sunday 8/1/10-

My alarm clock went off at 6:30am and Josh pushed snooze for me cause I wasn't quite ready to get up and get ready for church. I layed there thinking about what I needed to do that day, then I turned over and looked at the clock... 6:45... I needed to get up. I felt a pop and a gush of fluid came! Yuck. I jumped up and told Josh it was time to go as I ran to the bathtub to let the floodgates come. Man, all that fluid, it was so crazy. I had measured my tummy before I went to bed and it was 48 inches around. I measured again right before we went to the hospital and it measured 42 inches!! Instantly lost 6 inches. You can imagine the relief I already felt! Here is a picture of me right before leaving for the hospital-

We arrived at the hospital and I got checked in. I had the most wonderful nurse to start it all off. Her name is Leah, we were so grateful for her! She checked and I was already dilated to a 4. Yay! It was all really happening! Up until this point most of the feelings I'd had were of excitement. Just so excited to get to this point and to meet Baby Hope AND to see what God had in store for her and us. The only other feelings were somewhat sad because my best friend was out of town and not there to experience this with me. BUT I knew that this was God's timing and I had to get over that selfish part of me that wanted her to be there.

After that I was able to walk around and get my labor going. A little while later the contractions started coming good and strong. Finally, I crawled into bed to curl up and get through the last and worst part of the labor. Just because I was curled up in bed, don't get the impression that I was quiet and calm. haha, no I was a noisy laborer to put it lightly! :)
Baby Hope was born at 12:24pm after two pushes. Hallelujah! She didn't cry. They wrapped her up and gave her to me. I looked at her and then she opened her eyes and looked at me! I will NEVER forget that moment.

Hope breathed on her own from the very first breath. Breath given to her by our creator God. We hit the three hour mark... Hope live on. We fed her a bottle and at first she had a hard time figuring out how to swallow and breath at the same time. We had one scary moment when she stopped breathing and turned purple but she recovered quickly and began breathing again! Since then, she has been eating great!

We had so many friends and family come and share the first two days with us at the hospital. So encouraging to have so much support and love! Thank you to everyone who came to love on us and Baby Hope. And to everyone who brought me beautiful flowers and yummy treats. :)

We were so excited to be able to take Hope home with us. She has been eating consistently and sleeping great. 7 days... what a gift! It is all uncharted waters now. Hope wasn't expected to live this long. But she has and without any help from machines. We are in awe and completely astounded at all of this. We are still trusting God with her and know He still has a plan. I love that even though this isn't what we expected, that this has been His plan from the very beginning. I believe that God has been glorified through Hope's life. I also can't help but think that with all the many people praying for Baby Hope, that this has increased so many peoples faith, including mine.
The title "Everyday Miracles" refers to something very vivid that I have learned this week. Yes, I believe the time we have had with Hope has been a miracle but... it has opened my eyes to recognize the everyday miracles we overlook or just take for granted. Every single new life is a miracle and every breath given to us is too. Hope is a daily reminder of God's miraculous works. Take time to look around you and see God's everyday miracles around you. Let Hope be a reminder of how great our awesome God is!