Welcome Baby Belen!!!

What an amazing 24 hours we have had. I'll elaborate in a minute...first Belen (Bay-LYNN) Hale was born at 6:40 pm weighing 9lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches.

Okay, so most of you know Bryan has been REALLY sick all week...like I was thinking he had pneumonia sick. His cough was awful, he hurt really bad, blah blah blah. On Wednesday night he had a blessing that told him he would be able to get better. That night, however, was the worst night by far. The next morning, he went to work, and did okay, but wasn't feeling great still. During the day, I was really torn about what to do...go ahead and get induced, or no. There were so many factors besides Bryan's health that just really put the pressure on to figure out the "right" thing to do. For those that are lucky enough to go into labor...nature makes the decision for you so if bad stuff happens, you hold no guilt or responsibility for any of those events. Where I was making this decision, the weight of this decision was crushing. Bryan called me part way through the day, and it was the simplest thing, but he said, "I could be sick with this for several days, so even if you wait, we could be in the same situation as far as I go." That hadn't occurred to me, so the more I thought about it, the more peaceful I felt about going ahead with things the next day. I went to my dr. appointment that evening, and he indicated I hadn't done anything from the week before, but that he felt good about going ahead with things in the morning. So I went home, feeling very peaceful. In spite of my physical situation, I felt at complete and total peace about things, and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. When I woke up this morning, Bryan was already awake, and was doing amazing...he didn't even act sick. In fact, I can't think of the last time I have seen him look that well in the morning. It was nothing short of a miracle, I almost started balling when it started hitting me what a tender mercy this was from my Heavenly Father.

So this morning, we made our way to the hospital at 7:30 am. I had to get some antibiotics for group B strep, so they didn't start my pitocin until 11 am. My contractions were hard before they even started me, and got much worse throughout the afternoon. By 2 pm, I was not able to talk through them anymore, even though I was only a 3+ so I asked for my epidural. At about 4:30, I was a 4+. I could feel the contractions pretty strong through my epidural which I thought was weird, but since I don't go fast at ALL I didn't think too much of it. At 6 they came to check me again, and I was 100% effaced and a 10 :) My doctor was performing a c-section at a nearby hospital, so they told me not to cough, move or barf so she wouldn't come....I even crossed my legs to be safe. He made it just in time, and in 4 or 5 pushes, Belen was here. His comment was "THAT is a big baby." Comforting words :) She wasn't breathing and was so so blue...ugh. They worked on her for about 15 minutes before she was breathing well. She finally pinked up and let out the prettiest cry I've ever heard. She has beautiful dark hair, giant cheeks, and the cutest thunder thighs (she got those from me) you've ever seen. I was pretty surprised she was as big as she was...I had a feeling she would be 8 something, but I never would have guessed over 9. It makes me so glad I didn't wait until next week...or longer like I was even contemplating. She is so sweet, and the kids are totally taken with her. They didn't want to leave tonight when they came to see her. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for this sweet little girl, my wonderful husband, my other sweet kids, my family who keeps stepping in to take care of me and my kids, and my Heavenly Father who has given me everything I've ever wanted.