She's Here

Leslie headed out of the waiting room to go into the OR with Abby.  Chris and I waited with Leslie's mom and husband, chit-chatting, but mostly quiet.  Within minutes, she burst back into the room to grab my camera, and in the background I could see nurses carrying Amelia into the nursery.  The waiting room had a large window that looked straight into the nursery.  Chris and I were standing at the window with anticipation building in our hearts. Amelia was bundled and wrapped in blankets, and we still hadn't seen her face.  The nurses were cleaning her up, weighing her, and Leslie was swarming in the background like the papa-paparazzi.   Finally, a nurse held Amelia up and pulled the blanket away from her face.

Chris and I both burst into tears.  We were somewhere between crying and hysterical.  I definitely was ugly-face-crying, and my hands kept going back and forth between covering my mouth and touching my chest, as if that would help slow my heart down.  Had I been waving to an audience, I would have looked just like a newly-crowned Miss America.

She looked perfect.  Within minutes Leslie waved me into the nursery, and I was at her bedside while the nurse continued to work on her.

Words can't describe that moment.  It is beyond surreal, knowing this is my daughter, and yet it had only been 11 days since I found out she would be mine.  Here she was.  Holding my finger.  Amazing.

Chris joined us.  He was speechless.  See, I'm grabbing my chest.  Maybe I was trying to catch my breath.

I remember talking to her.  "You must be so cold, sweet girl.  We're gonna get you all wrapped up soon.  It's okay sweet pea."

She was here.  She was precious.

Her cry was so quiet.  There wasn't much noise behind it.  Very breathy.  She was alert, and the nurse told me her APGAR score was adequate.  I was so relieved that she was doing well, given her rough night.  Once she was cleaned up, she was in my arms.  About then, they rolled Abby's bed by the nursery.  We exchanged waves and smiles, and she was rolled to her room to recover from surgery.

I sat down and just held my girl.

More to come,

Amanda