Layla Blythe

Our little girl, Layla Blythe, came into the world on Friday, June 10, 2016, at 10:15 am. She weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 19.5″ long. After my OB appointment the previous Friday, we started to wonder if perhaps she would arrive before her scheduled appointment on Friday morning. The whole family made guesses as to what her birthday would be. Kieron and Aunt Manivanh were the winners of that bet. Apparently our little lady was in no hurry to be born!

The Birth Story

Tired as I was Thursday night, I had a terrible time getting to sleep. How does one settle down when they have to wake up early the next morning for major surgery to have a baby? I had really hoped she would come early so I could just react to everything as it happened instead of having it all so planned out. Somehow though, I did fall asleep, and I woke up five minutes before our alarm went off.

We checked in to the hospital at 7:30 am, with surgery scheduled to begin two hours later. As with Silas, I buzzed in and cheerfully stated, “I’m here to have a baby.” They let us in and my nurse, Spring, hooked me up to machines and put in my IV while Jonathan fetched himself a good cup of coffee. While he was gone, I admitted to the nurse that I was feeling a bit anxious this time around, and then the weight of everything just hit me and I started to cry. I felt so incredibly lucky that I was about to meet our little girl, and I could hardly wait to find out that she was healthy and normal. Getting that off my chest was a relief, and one tissue later felt much better. I was having mild contractions (which was not the case with Silas), and it was fun for Jonathan to be able see and hear them on the monitor. I think he was a little surprised. Eventually the anesthesiologist and my OB arrived, made introductions, and went over the game plan.

At about 9:45 am they rolled me into the OR to prepare for surgery. Everyone was extremely friendly and talkative. The epidural went in easy-peasy (another big relief) and I quickly felt the numbness set in as they positioned me on the table. I learned my OB had a reputation for being “the fastest around.” As she explained, there’s no reason to leave the patient exposed any longer than necessary. They put the curtain up just below my arms, and I scanned the room, trying to soak in as much as I could. That’s one benefit of not being in active labor during the process. Directly to my right were my machines and monitors. In front of me, the big blue curtain, to the left, the clock and double doors I’d come through, and if I craned my head around as much as possible like an owl, there was the scale behind me, where they would take our daughter right after she was born. The clock ticked on, and before long I felt a ton of pressure on my upper chest (the assisting doc pushing on me to move the baby down) and I knew it was almost time. Then the next thing we heard were our daughters’ cries!

Jonathan left my side to follow our baby to the scale and cut her cord, while I about twisted my neck off trying to see what was going on! I know it was only moments, but it seemed like a long time before they brought her over and placed her on my chest, a beautiful, healthy, baby girl with a powerful set of lungs! I cried again, this time not anxious, but thankful, and Jonathan and I wished our girl a happy birthday.

Here is the morning in photos. Last pregnant photo EVER!