Bless the Lord, Oh my soul!

Mother/Daughter Bonding

Daryl came back between 9 and 10pm. I'm so thankful that his Mom could stay overnight with our kids so that he could be up at the hospital with me to help out during the first night. I was in a lot of pain this first night and I wasn't able to move around a lot yet (mainly because of my catheter) so it was nice to have his help with Karys. She slept great and I just needed him to get her and change her diaper for me when she did wake up so that I could feed her. Oh, and he brought up some PINK clothes. I was still in shock that she's a girl so I needed some girly clothes to make it more real!! He had to leave around 5:30 the next morning to get back home so that his Mom could get back home.

Karys Meets Grandpa and Grandma Stegink

While Daryl and his Mom brought the kids to McDonald's for supper and then took them home and put them to bed, my parents came up to the hospital to meet Karys and help me out! It was really nice to have them there to keep me company and hold Karys so that I could rest. I was so drowsy at this point in the day! I know the pain meds didn't help anything! It's such a miserable feeling to know that someone is talking to you but you feel your eyes closing and you can't do anything about it. Haha! I also know that I was repeating myself with some of the things I was saying to them. My Dad held Karys for a good long time - I wish I had a picture of it . . . but I was sleeping! ;)

Karys' first visitors!

Daryl went home to get the other kids shortly after we got up to our room. While he was gone, I started feeling really nauseous and dizzy. The nurse gave me some phenergan so that I would be feeling better by the time the kids got there to see Karys. It did work and I felt much better but it also made me more drowsy. The kids were so excited to meet their new baby sister. I was worried how Samuel would react to the news because he was so hoping for a brother. When Daryl talked to him on the phone and told him it was a sister he got a huge smile on his face and whispered to the girls in an excited voice, "It's a girl!!!" No mention ever of wishing that Karys was a boy. And Aliyah, of course, was over the top excited because throughout my whole pregnancy she was convinced it was a girl. If anyone ever said "he" or "him" when referring to the baby she would right away say, "NO! HER!" She was pretty confident that she was getting her little sister - and she was right! I love the expressions on all of my kids' faces during this first meeting with their newest sibling. They were so sweet with her! It was also very special to have Grandma Neil be able to meet Karys so soon after she was born. We were so thankful that she was able and willing to come and watch the kids for us. (My parents had Anna's Honor's Convocation at Cornerstone this afternoon so they weren't able to watch the kids for us!)

Unfortunately, the hospital isn't the greatest place for three kids under 5 years of age so they only stayed for about a half an hour before heading to McDonald's with Daddy and Grandma Neil for supper!

Recovery Room

We were in the recovery room for about 2 hours. Karys did great - she nursed well for the first time and her blood sugar and temperatures were perfect. We made lots of phone calls and sent lots of texts letting everyone know that we had a new baby girl! I was already starting to feel some pain in recovery as well as feeling pretty drowsy from the pain meds I was already getting. Karys had her first bath as well - she wasn't too fond of that. :) My nurse, Darcie, (in a few of the pictures below) was amazing - absolutely loved her!

I was thankful to get up to her room on the mother/baby floor just before 4pm. It was good to be moved to a real bed!! The mother/baby floor was jam-packed full though - early May is a popular time of year to have baby!

The Delivery

Ready to head for the hospital and find out if our kids are going to have a brother or a sister!

One last "baby bump" picture! A little nervous but very excited to finally meet this little one!

It's a GIRL! Daryl was able to stand up and peek over the curtain to announce it when Dr Lomax delivered her. Dr Lomax's first words were "this isn't a little baby girl either!" The week before, Dr Lomax guessed that it was a girl - he was right! I didn't believe him . . . I was still leaning towards boy up until the time I heard the words "It's a girl!" come out of Daryl's mouth.

She came out screaming!!

Just hanging out! Waiting to give my baby girl hugs and kisses! (This picture is a great visual image of the disadvantage of having a c-section!)

Almost 9 lbs. My littlest baby yet! Dr Lomax also guessed (at my pre-op appointment a couple days earlier) that this baby would be "upper 8's" for weight. He was right on! I was still thinking bigger - closer to 9 1/2 to 10lbs. Dr Lomax was right on size and gender . . . and I didn't believe him on either!! I guess his 25 years of experience do count for something! ;)

First picture of our baby girl with Mommy and Daddy! Karys didn't have a name until about 4 hours after she was born. We were going back and forth between Karys Alexandra and Emma Alexandra. We settled on the name Karys about the time we got out of recovery and up to our room on the mother/baby floor.