Finley Faith: Her Story

Our precious little doll - our miracle baby - Finley Faith, arrived on Monday, July 13th at 10:44 am.  Finley's birth was everything I had hoped it would be - complication-free for both Finley and me! 

I had a scheduled C-section, which to be honest, may have caused quite a bit of additional anxiety and stress in the weeks and days leading up to Finley's Birthday.  As a type-A planner, it might have been the one time in my life that I was secretly hoping for a surprise!  I found that in the weeks before Finley's arrival, I was focusing way too much on everyone else's plans in terms of who would come to the hospital, when they would come to the hospital, etc. etc. etc.  Luckily, though, everything ended up falling into place just as my family had told me it would, and Finley was welcomed into this world in the most perfect of circumstances - well, to me, at least!

Auntie Whitney came down from Boston the day before to 1.) keep my mind occupied and off of what was about to happen the.next.day!! and 2.) to help with the boys (who just adore their Auntie).  We had a wonderful last day as a family of four, relaxing and playing with the boys at my parents' pool.  Early Monday morning, my mom and dad came to my house to help my sister with the boys.  I will never forget the moments before Nick and I left for the hospital.  I hugged my little babies, who had no idea what was about to happen in the next couple of hours.  I gave them both a big kiss and remember thinking that the next time I would see them, they would be big brothers! 

Once at the hospital, I was admitted to a room and my nurse hooked me up to lots of monitors.  I was asked a lot of questions, mostly about my crazy scary experience with regard to delivering the boys (only 13 months and 8 days earlier!!).  I was so extremely nervous.  Even though I was already a mom, and had already delivered my twins, I had never experienced this before.  This was all new to me.  I had no idea how things were supposed to happen when a woman goes to the hospital to deliver a baby!  In the midst of my 'getting ready to have a baby', the nurse informed me that I was having contractions every three to five minutes and she asked if I felt anything (which I didn't).  She told me that had I not had a scheduled C-section, she would have been willing to bet that I would have been admitted to the hospital on that day anyway.  Talk about perfect timing. 

My mom arrived at the hospital and joined us in my room.  I wanted my mom to be there in the waiting room while my C-section was being performed.  With the boys, I hemorrhaged fairly severely just moments after being wheeled out of the operating room.  My mom wanted to be right there just in case I needed her at a moment's notice.  The anesthesiologist and my OB came into my room to talk to me about next steps and so that I could sign all sorts of forms.  And then, finally, at 10 am I said good-bye to my Mom and Nick and walked with my nurse into the OR.  Ahhh!

I remember shaking uncontrollably.  I was so scared.  So excited.  So anxious.  The nurse had to hold my knees down while the spinal was placed and administered.  I couldn't stop shaking.  Even once my legs were numb, my arms continued to shake.  One of the nurses placed a warm blanket over my arms and shoulders, and shortly thereafter, Nick was welcomed into the room.  He took his place right up by the side of my head and we were both so nervous that we didn't know what to talk about.  We just kept saying that we couldn't believe how different Finley's delivery was compared to the boys' delivery.  Even my doctor would yell over to the curtain from time to time to see how we were doing, remarking what a difference this must be for us this time around.  A matter of minutes later, we heard our doctor say that our sweet Finley had arrived.  Tears.  Oh my, the tears.  I couldn't stop them.  I finally heard Finley's sweet little cries, and I cried even more.  Those were sounds coming straight from a miracle.  From my miracle.

 

Nick was able to hold Finley by my head for what felt like a while.  Our first moments together with our daughter.  Those moments are ones that I will never forget.  Nick was asked to go back to our room while my doctor finished stitching (or, stapling) me up, and once she was finished, a nurse handed my beautiful daughter to me and I held her in my arms as I was wheeled back to my recovery room.  My mom was able to come in, and she met her grand-daughter for the first time. 

 

 

Once I was wheeled to my postpartum room, my dad and sister brought the boys to the hospital to see me.  My little babies were big boys... big brothers!  Austin was mostly interested in the remote control attached to the hospital bed and Camden didn't seem to have a care in the world that he had just met his little sister.  Their visit didn't last long, as suspected, but again - those short few moments, our first as a family of five, are ones I will never, ever forget. 

 

We spent the next three nights in the hospital getting to know our daughter while I worked on recovering.  And let me tell you, I couldn't have asked for a better recovery.  So blessed.  So, so blessed.

 

Finley, my sweet miracle: You have completed my heart and soul.  I never knew how much was missing from my life until I met you.  You have been the biggest, most amazing and miraculous surprise of my life.  I will forever love you with all that I am. 

I have so much to catch up on, so much to share... Someday, hopefully soon, I'll be back to document just how crazy (and stressful) this life has been the past two weeks as we've begun to settle into life as a family of five... with three babies under 13.5 months.  Truth is: it hasn't been easy.  At all.  BUT (!!!), it has been wonderful.  Oh so very, very wonderful!  Stay tuned...