Well the day finally came! Shaun and I are proud to announce the birth of our little girl! Abigail Denise Wharton was born on October 1, 2008 at 7:25pm. She was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long. Abigail was born happy, healthy and absolutely perfect!

I know it has been a while since we posted last, but life has been super busy. In the end Shaun and I had less time then we expected to prepare for Abby’s arrival. On September 24th, I went in for my weekly check up. At this point I was 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Everything was on track and it looked like Abby would be born close to the original due date of October 13th. When Dr. Freedman went to measure my belly like normal, I had grown exponentially since my appointment the week before and you could literally see an outline of her. Let me tell you, I had noticed it but thought it was normal. Dr.Freedman seemed concerned that she was running out of room and that by the time I found myself at the end of my pregnancy, Abby would be too big to deliver the traditional way. What all of this meant was that he wanted to induce labor and deliver her early to save me from any problems.

I went into the office again on Monday September 29th, 2008 and after an exam and a look at the most recent ultrasound Dr. Freedman felt I needed to either induce or schedule a C-Section. I wanted to stay away from surgery if possible, but wanted to make sure I was doing what was best for Abby. I went home and took the evening to decide what I wanted to do. The next day, September 30th, I called the office and the next thing I knew I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 8pm that evening to start a two step induction. What a whirlwind!!

After we dropped Jack off at Zoe’s house, we headed to the hospital ready to have a baby! I was nervous, but excited and I was hoping that everything went well. As we pulled up to the hospital, “Crush” by Dave Matthews Band popped on to the radio. From that point on, I knew the evening was going to be a good one, no matter what happened. You have to know me well to understand why. 🙂

After we checked in, hospital bands were on, trapped in those fantastic hospital gowns, and the induction had started it was now time to wait! As it turns out, when we began the first step of the induction I was already 2 centimeters dilated. Things were looking great! Over time, there was some progress but it was slow. Once I reached about 3-4 centimeters, the pitocin was introduced and we hoped that things would progress quickly. Around 2am, the contractions became more then I could handle and it was definitely time for the epidural. From that point on, things moved very slow and by 6pm the next day, October 1st, Dr. Freedman felt that things would not happen the way we hoped and that a C-Section was the best option. So at 6:50pm I was rolled from my room in Labor and Delivery to the Operative Delivery Room. At 7:00pm, after the epidural was intensified and I was hooked up to every piece of machinery known to man, surgery began. At exactly 7:25pm our little girl was born. I waited, holding my breath until I heard her cry for the first time and when I did, the tears started. Dont worry, they were tears of happiness and joy and the overwhelming realization that I was now a mother and Shaun was now a father.

Shaun stayed with Abby after she was born, cutting her umbilical cord and following her to the nursery as they put me back together again. Once I was in recovery, he came back to me and stayed by my side the entire time I was at the hospital. The 4 days I spent in the hospital were restful and honestly wonderful. My parents made it into town by 1:30am, driving in from Bozeman Montana. I had the chance to visit with them as well as my in-laws and friends and family. The nurses were wonderful and I have to say I love my doctor and his colleague who took wonderful care of me before, during and after Abby’s birth.

On Sunday October 5th, Shaun and I loaded up the car and headed home with our new little girl. I am still at home recovering and honestly I am starting to go stir crazy. The only trips I have made were to the hospital to make sure that Abby’s slight case of jaundice was under control and to Dr. Freedman’s to make sure I was healing ok and to remove my staples. I cant wait to be back on my feet and to the point where we can go out with Abby. Until then, Shaun and I are at home dealing with sleep deprivation and enjoying the new little miracle in our life!

Despite the lack of sleep, life doesnt get better then this!