Welcome to the world, Saylor Jane

It’s been one whole month (I wrote the majority of this back in October, it’s officially been two months now) since we welcomed our sweet Saylor Jane to the world and I wanted to take a minute to record that special day before too many details escape me. I have so much to say about our girl, our fun surprise, the easiest pregnancy of the three, and the most perfect little one to round out our family.

Let’s just get right into it, shall we? We knew this would be a repeat c-section and we found ourselves in the same situation at nearly 39 weeks, no progress at all. Funny enough, I thought since this was number three, we’d have some excitement, like randomly going into labor or having my water break at an inopportune time. But, no.

We woke up early on Tuesday, September 18th, even though we didn’t have to arrive until 9:30 (we scheduled a 12:00 delivery). I did all the important things like packing my hospital bag and unloading the dishwasher.

I wouldn’t be doing this story justice if I didn’t tell you I was completely panicked at this point. While this pregnancy was easy on me, the emotions leading up to the delivery were not so much. I had so much anxiety leading up the delivery. Would I be okay? Would the baby? We have two healthy kids, did we really think this through? What if something happens to me or the baby? The emotions were real and raw and even sitting here today and typing this, it’s easy to feel those familiar feelings. After all, c-sections are major surgery and I had all of these scenarios in my head where things would go wrong.

The morning of Saylor’s delivery was no exception. I calmly changed into my hospital gown, the sweet nurses started an IV and asked me a million questions, I thought I was doing a good job of hiding my emotions. I looked over at Allen and he whispered “are you okay??” I just shook my head no, because at that moment I felt anything but okay. All the cords and wires and sounds were enough to make me a little uneasy.

It was about this time that the best thing happened and the kids came into the room and all was right in my world. They immediately made everything okay and proved to be the best distraction. Things moved really quick at this point and I never had a second to even think about it again.

A little after 12:00, we were ready to head to labor and delivery. I asked if I could just walk to the operating table and from there had the best spinal experience (seriously, only felt the initial shot and it worked almost instantaneously), and they were full force getting me prepped for my c-section, the room was suddenly abuzz and honestly, I never had another moment of panic.

I remember being completely at ease and thinking how silly it was for me to have been so worked up just minutes before. As with all of my deliveries, Saylor Jane proved to be stubborn, she was nice and cozy and there were several minutes of silent uncertainty while she was being delivered. The doctor kept giving me the you’re going to feel a little pressure line over and over.

Oh wait, how can I forget? WE DIDN’T KNOW THE GENDER! That’s right, we went 39.2 weeks without finding out and it was the best surprise. Let me back track for a moment and say, I would 100% do it again. I can’t tell you how genuinely excited every single person was, each time we uttered the words, we don’t know, it’s a surprise. The nurses, the doctors, the anesthesiologist. It created such a fun buzz in the atmosphere.

When the doctor finally held her up for Allen to see, he excitedly exclaimed, it’s a girl!! A girl. We didn’t even have names set it stone, but we know we would know when we saw her. He came over and whispered to me, it’s Saylor and that’s the moment I knew.

The next part went by quick and I feel like it was mostly a blur. Thankfully, we had Kamin to capture ALL of the special moments. And can we talk about how Allen came through big with a birthstone band, diamonds for the April babies and sapphires for Saylor. It’s the first piece of jewelry I’ve wanted since my wedding band and I was thrilled when he pulled out the ring box. 

Allen accompanied Saylor back to our room while they finished with me. Once I arrived back to the room we spent a little time ordering lunch (I couldn’t have pain medicine again until I ate), and bringing Braylen and Judson in to meet their new baby sister.

I can’t put words to that moment, but I think these pictures capture it all pretty well!

We spent the rest of the day snuggling our new girl. Truly, what a gift. I imagine I’ll long for that moment the rest of my life, you know the one? That moment in which they place your new baby in your arms and you spend the next few days in a blissful haze getting to know your new baby… it’s my favorite.