Wilson Clan Adventures

After I had Elly, I was not shy about telling the world, "We are done having kids." Seriously, I was done. But Adam and I made plans, and God laughed really hard at us, and then He gave us Cara. And through her, I can say that I'm getting a glimpse of what all of those mothers who have grown-up kids keep telling me. If you're a mom and you're out and about with your little one(s), I'm sure you've had the same experience I have--where an older woman comes over to you and reminds you to "savor these moments because they go by so fast." Usually, I kindly reply back and say something to the effect of, "I'm trying to," but at the same time, there's that voice inside me is yelling, "Don't you remember how hard this stage is????"

Well, today I can say, "I get it."

Now that Micah and Elly are in school, I get to have Cara and me time. And she's the last. No really, she is. *says silent prayer* Unlike when Micah and Elly were Cara's age, I don't have a baby and a toddler in the house now. I just have Cara. I also have those minutes where she's playing quietly by herself with her dolls and babbling in her little voice that only a few family members understand, and she's saying phrases that equate to, "I'm ok Mama" (when the blocks fall down and make a loud sound--because she knows I usually check on loud sounds), or "Oopsie!" (when the doll falls down). I have those minutes to discover that Cara loves to paint--so much so that she painted for 45 minutes the other day and maybe uttered three words. (If you know Cara, that is saying something.)

These times are precious. These times are rare. And these times with Micah and Elly are past. But I'm so thankful that I have experienced moments with each of my children where I can say, "I get it."

It only seems appropriate that I write about Cara's birth story today, on her ten-month birthday. I've been slow to write this account down, but I'd like to capture the highlights of the day--as best as I can remember them now.

Adam and I were as sure as we could be that our second baby girl was going to be born via C-section. So we just had to pick the date and show up, right? If only it was that easy. ;) Actually, picking the date was a bit of a struggle for me. I knew that she would be born in the middle of August, and I didn't want her to be born too early (for developmental reasons) or too late (for my own worries about going into labor). I was also hoping to avoid a birthday on August 13th, just so that her birthday would never occur on Friday the 13th. I was hoping for an even date as well, seeing as though Micah and Elly were both born in even-numbered months and on even-numbered days. (We already were keeping with the pattern with an odd-numbered year!) All that to say that I was so excited when the doctor said she would be available bright and early on August 14th. And so the date was set.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, August 13th. Adam's mom came over to our house to spend the night and take care of Micah and Elly while Adam and I were in the hospital with the new baby. Adam and I didn't sleep well, as expected. I was scheduled to have the first C-section of the day, so we had to be at the hospital at 5:00AM. We both woke up on Wednesday well before our alarms went off and started our day. We quietly snuck out of the house to not wake Micah and Elly, said good morning to Adam's mom who woke up to wish us luck, and started our drive to the hospital. On our way, I called my parents to tell them we were on our way. I remember being very nervous and had a difficult time speaking about the procedure to come--even though I'd gone through it twice before. This time just felt different, and I couldn't stop crying. It was surreal pulling into a very empty parking garage and walking into a quiet and dark hospital. Adam and I took a few minutes to pray and just focus on the time that we had as the two of us. When we were ready, we checked in and got our room very quickly. We met our first nurse of the day, the anesthesiologist, the anesthesiologist-in-training (who would be working with me under the watchful eye of her boss), our midwife (who also assisted in Elly's birth), and our OB-GYN. I felt very confident in all of the people who would help us welcome our little girl into the world.

After a couple of preparations, Adam and I were walking to the operating room. We met all of the various doctors, nurses, and assistants--each ready to go and be a part of this miracle. One of the doctors assisting the OB-GYN had also been at the birth of Elly too. Each little connection to our family of four made me think about the beautiful family we already had--and that we were adding to it. I was the most nervous about the spinal, but it turned out that that wasn't the hardest part of this delivery. Before I knew it, I was laying on the table, looking at Adam, and just waiting to hear the sound of our little girl. And then we did. She came out crying loudly at 7:22. The quiet operating room suddenly got very busy and loud. She weighed in at 7 pounds even and 19.75 inches long.

Adam and I got to meet our second baby girl. She immediately tried to nurse as Adam held her. Sucking was obviously a skill she had been practicing because she had given herself blood blisters on both of her forefingers! Next, it was time for Adam and I to name her. Unlike Micah and Elly, she did not seem to have a strong opinion about her three name options. It was clear she didn't like one of them, but she seemed indifferent to the other two. Adam was very kind and knew I had a preference for Cara, so we went with that.

As the nurses and Adam worked with Cara and the doctors finished up with me, I started experiencing severe cramping in my shoulder. The anesthesiologist said that some amniotic fluid agitated my pancreas, which made me experience those cramps. She administered some drug to lessen the pain, which worked--thankfully.

Soon after that, the three of us were back in our hospital room, where Cara was happy to nurse for real. She didn't need any lessons--she just went for it. When we had time to relax a bit, I noticed that my vision was a bit distorted. It turns out that my pupils were extremely dilated. (Adam mentioned that he couldn't see the color of my eyes at all.) It wasn't until much later in the day that we figured out why. Before the surgery, I was given a Band-Aid-like, anti-nausea medication that I wore behind my ear. I wasn't supposed to touch it--but apparently I did. One of the side-effects of the spinal is itchy skin, and my skin and eyes were very itchy. At some point, I must have tucked my longer hair behind my ears--and also touched the anti-nausea medication--and then rubbed my eyes, which deposited the medication into my blood stream. So for a full day, my vision was off.

For the rest of Wednesday and Thursday, Adam and I spent time getting to know Cara, recovering from surgery, and resting. Because we had been through this process twice before, the routine check-ups, the intermittent sleeps, and the frequent nursing sessions were expected and much more doable. Adam and I enjoyed our time by watching TV shows, visiting with family, and talking with each other--often about Micah and Elly, who we knew were having so much fun with Adam's mom.

On Friday, it was time for us to leave the hospital. Adam's mom brought Micah and Elly to meet their new sister, and they both oogled her and were excited to spend more time with her. For the first time, we loaded up Homer with our family of five to start a new adventure!