Aleyah Annie Upshaw

After 9 long months of anticipation Aleyah Annie Upshaw made her appearance into this world. She was born Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 4:44 am. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and is 18 1/2 in long. She was delivered by emergency c-section.
All day Monday I had been having contractions. I went in for my weekly appointment with the midwives and they stripped my membranes. They were pretty sure I was going to have a baby that night. By 6pm or so I was having steady contractions every 6 minutes apart. They didn't hurt too bad and I thought I can do this. Ha! At 11:57 pm they were 2-3 minutes apart and still didn't hurt...then POP, my water broke and THEN THEY HURT! Holy crap! I've never hurt so bad in all my ENTIRE life...including that nasty episode with pancreatitus.
Midwives were informed and they said to stay home for a couple of hours but that wasn't in the cards. As it turned out it was very important for me to get to the hospital fast. She was ready to come out and in anticipation of that, already had a bowl movement. They didn't want her to breath that in.
We made it to the hospital in record time. I remember we passed a few cops on Arthur St and nothing happened. I was pretty surprised.
Anyway. Why the c-section? I was laboring for quite sometime. 20 minutes into it I do believe I asked for a c-section. Holy cow the pain, I could hardly speak or think. I didn't really want one but I did want the epidural. (I'm a chicken when it comes to pain. God made the epidural available for a reason you know.)
Baby's base heart beat was only 120 and every time I had a contraction, it would dip lower and then stay there, then dip lower, you get the picture. It dipped to below 100 and Tracy called in Dr Dyer.
At first they didn't want to do a c-section but I was dilated to just over a 5 and he said I had hours to go and baby's heart beat was too low. Emergency C-section here I come!
They prepped me and I was taken to the O.R. Holy crap it was cold in there. I remember shaking so bad I couldn't hold still. Then they needed to give me a spinal. The man told me to hold as still as I could and curl into a ball. Ha, that's a funny joke...not only am I dealing with mind numbing contractions, I'm shaking so hard that my teeth were jolting together AND in case you haven't noticed sir, my belly is HUGE. There is no room to curl into a ball! The nurse holding my hands really helped me though. We got the spinal done and within seconds I was numb from the chest down. I turned to the guy who gave me such relief and told him I loved him. I'm sure everybody laughed but by the time the pain stopped, I was so tired I could hardly pay attention. Of course the nurse tattled on me to Ernie. They guy grinned and said he was quite popular with the ladies. I can see why.
Ernie came in just moments after they started cutting. Probably a good thing I couldn't see because Ernie said they were pretty rough trying to get her out. She was born at 4:44am and just as precious as anything I've ever seen. She did look green, but it didn't matter. She was beautiful to me. They cleaned her off, weighed and measured her and then let me look for a few seconds then took her and Ernie away.
Now time for stitches. 8 LAYERS OF THEM. Oh boy. It took longer to stitch me up than it did to prep, cut me open and pull her out. By the time they finished and I got out of recovery, it was nearly 7:30 am.
I saw my family waiting in the room but I only had eyes for my little girl. She was beautiful. I'm not biased either. Some babies just aren't pretty. Mine is.
Yay she's here! What a sweet little girl God blessed our family with. She hasn't cried...yet and she is just sweet as can be. She is so alert and loves to look around at everything. I call her my little bird....probably because she is always hungry and has her mouth open.
She has been such a joy and the kids are so in love with her. They have been such a great help. Sabrina takes the dirty diapers to the garbage and Jonathan is always turning the mobile on so she can listen to the music. Both kids want to hold her and they are so very gentle. They are going to be such great older siblings.
Ernie has been awesome. From the moment my water broke to right now he has been so supportive. He helped me keep calm when the contractions were at their peek and when I was in surgery. He's helped in the middle of the night when I am so sore I can't get out of bed. He gets Aleyah out of her crib and brings her to me so I can feed her. He is such a great father. Just talking about it makes me cry. You can tell Aleyah loves him so very much.
Grandma and Grandpa Lish, my parents, just think the sun and moon revolve around her. For sure, they are going to spoil her rotten. They just can't get enough of her and love to hug and kiss on her forehead.
Papa and Gigi, Ernie's parents, came up and visited in the hospital. I do believe that Aleyah has them wrapped around her little finger as well and will be spoiled rotten by them too.
Aunts and Uncles on both sides of the family think she is beautiful and I can't help but beam in pleasure! Uncle Morgan is already lost. He grins at her and she just stares at him.
Krystal, my sister in law, was a HUGE help in the delivery room. She helped rub my back when it hurt and kept cold wash clothes ready for when I got too hot. Thanks a ton! I love you!
My mother was also a blessing. When the contractions hit their peak, she rubbed my legs and feet so they would relax. It helped so very much and I love her too!
My dad came up and helped Ernie give me a blessing. I don't recall what it said, but I know it helped me calm down and breath better. I love you daddy.
So, that is the story so far. She is a blessing straight from heaven and I will thank God the rest of my days for her.