Burchett Blessing's: SHE'S HERE!!!

As I mentioned earlier, one of my best friend's Amanda gave birth to a precious daughter on Tuesday evening. It all started that morning when I texted Amanda to see how her last day of work was going. They had set an induction date up of the 18th and since her original due date was on the 15th, I just kinda assumed that would be her last day. Well, to my surprise, Amanda was at the doctor's office for a routine appointment that I had forgotten she had. She informed me that Monday had been her last day and that hopefully there was only a few more days before Baby M arrived.

I was headed to the gym and Amanda decided to meet me there and see if she could "walk" Baby M out. At her appointment she was already 4 cm and about 80% effaced so we didn't think it would be much longer! I had been on the treadmill about 15 minutes once she got there and she wasn't too far into her walk when I noticed her grab her stomach and wince. I kinda just kept going on my merry way attempting to finish my own run. After about the 4th contraction I looked over at her and said "I am gonna step this run up a notch before you birth that baby on the treadmill!"

For some reason, I had decided that I was going to shower at the gym after I had run and I know it was just God's way of working everything out perfectly. After quickly finishing my run I hoped in the shower and Amanda said she was going to continue to walk until I was done. Although, when I got out she was sitting in a chair in the bathroom to see if they were going to stop or continue. This was the 3rd time she had had consistent contractions but they always went away. Not this time!!

She insisted upon driving herself home and getting a shower and since I had Lilliana with me, I called my MIL to meet me at the hospital and we quickly left to meet Amanda at her house. Upon arriving, I still heard the shower going but she must have heard me come in the door because she said, "Ok, I think it's time, you may want to go ahead and call your MIL." I told her I already had and started piling things in the car she needed and making sure Drew (her husband) was aware of what was going on. After a quick run through of her house and making sure we had everything she may need we headed on our way.

I will admit, after the 3rd contraction in the car and her telling me that they were really starting to hurt, I got a little nervous. I could just picture me having to pull over the car and deliver a baby. I had all sorts of labor and delivery emergency techniques running through my head! Surprisingly upon arrival to the hospital she wasn't dilated anymore and they decided to give her fluids to make sure it was true labor and not brought on my the gym.

Drew got there about 30 minutes after we arrived and Amanda and I joked that at first they probably thought we were lovers since she was squeezing my hand through contractions and Lilliana and I were the only one's there with her! She made sure to tell her triage nurse that I was her friend :) After an hour they check her again and decided to go ahead and admit her since her contractions continued to be 3-5 minutes apart. Then it was time for an epidural. I waited in the waiting room and when Drew came out he said she was happy and feeling GREAT.

Over the next couple hours we kinda sat around and talked and then around 4:15 her parents arrived from Mayfield, KY. At that time I left to go pick up Wilson from his sitters and take him to our house, along with picking up a list of things they had forgotten at the house. Upon arriving back at our house to bring a couple things back to Wilson for him to sleep there, Drew called to let me know that they were about to break her water and they expected things to progress very quickly from there. I ran out of the house leaving Lilliana and Wilson with Clay and sped off back to the hospital. There was no way I was going to miss the big announcement after the baby was born, especially since I had been there all day!

I got back to the hospital in record time and ran in just in time to see Amanda for about 5 minutes before she told them she felt pressure. The nurse checked her and quickly called for the Dr. to come back because it was BABY TIME!! I went out into the waiting room with Amanda's parents and in no more than 15 minutes Drew came out to tell us little Dorothy Elaine had arrived. All 7 pounds 14 ounces of pure joy. She was 20 inches long and looks so much like her older brother, complete with a small cleft in her chin! She doesn't have as much hair as he did, but I am sure there will be plenty of bows in it when able to do so :)

I am so incredibly happy for you two and can't wait to see how much your life is going to change with a precious little girl in it. Not knowing the sex throughout her pregnancy made it so hard to plan but oh how fun it was on Baby Day. I can't wait to see how protective Wilson is going to be with her and see her and Lilliana grow up together. We were already joking that since Lilliana is 19 month's older, Dorothy is not going to understand why Lilly can do some things she can't do when they get older. It should be interesting to say the least.