It's a.... Surprise!

When I arrived at the hospital around 7PM (Monday evening) , Blair and Allan were getting settled into their room. The night nurse got Blair started with the gels about 9PM. Each round of gel consisted of 1 hour of resting, 1 hour of walking and one more hour of rest before the next gel time... So we walked up and down the halls of the L&D floor chatting all night! It was actually pretty fun (probably not so much for her). In the early morning Allan got a few hours of sleep while Blair and I took about a 45 min cat nap the whole night! It was VERY cold (63 I think) in her room, which was comfortable for her and that is what is important, but I just couldn't get comfortable.

In the morning Kenny came up to visit me and brought me a QT drink and donuts : )  The day seemed long as we waited and waited for the baby come. We passed time by making a guess about the baby's weight, length and sex.  I am such a baby when it comes to lack of sleep, and for me going 37 hours on a 45 min nap was just not cutting it!! Also, I felt a little uncomfortable being there with all her family (her mom, Allan and his parents) and didn't really feel like I should be there...

It was finally time for this baby to come so the nurses busily prepared the area and the doctor came in! It was pretty intense seeing someone you care about be in so much pain and there really isn't anything you can do for her! I was a leg holder until we were allowed to take pictures (after the baby's head was out) and then the super awesome nurse told me to get my camera ready and she took over the leg holding. Blair pushed a few times and then we could see the head (full of black hair) coming out. She was really dark complected and very purple looking when she came out. 

She was crying and no one seemed concerned, but I was! Turns out her poor little face was bruised from delivery. At first the doctor said, "we have a line backer here!" and we all thought that meant it was a boy, but I think he was referring to her size, because he finally announced, "It's a Girl!" as laid her on Blair's stomach. She was 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long and born at 2:26 PM. I think it was love at first sight for Allan. There was lots of commotion and Blair instructed me to just keep taking pictures... I took about 110 in that 15 min block of time!

After they got her all fixed up she went to reach for something at the end of the bed and was so excited that she could lean over! It was funny. Watching someone have a baby is such a trip! One second you are feeling her belly and the next you are holding this amazing little 'purple' creation! From the time the doctor walked into the room it took only 4 mins before Hailey was born! It seemed longer, but at the same time it went so fast I missed a lot!

After spending almost 20 hours at the hospital I was more than ready to go home and Blair wanted to rest anyway. It really was an amazing experience and I am so glad Blair let me be part of her special day (s)!

PS Here is the quilt I made her : )