Bella's Story

Ok, so this is how it all happened...it's pretty long, but I want to remember every detail so I can tell her about her first days.

Wednesday at 6pm is the time I talked A each week..so this past Wed I call at 6..no answer, i call at 6:15..no answer...honestly freaking out. So we went to the movies with Jess and Andy to see Tropical Thunder, about 30 minutes into the movie we get a call from an NC area code I run out of the theatre and it's A's mom. She was in the hospital!!!!! She had taken a nap after her Dr's appt and when she woke up her water had broke.
So we run back in grab Jess and Andy and we head back to their house to pack the car. We are literally in and out in about 10 minutes! As we're driving down the highway we see the signs for "Fayetteville", I can't explain the feeling as we realized we were finally in the town where our daughter would be born. We got to the hospital in about an hour and a half...it was sooo surreal pulling up to it knowing this was it!!
We found our way to labor and delivery looking back it all feels like a dream. When we got there the nurses directed us to her room...it was so weird, for some reason i was expecting them to take us down and introduce us! LOL...i wanted to explain to the nurses that we had never met A and her mom. So we walk down knock on the door and A's mom answers the door, she hugs us and the next 48 hrs are like a blur :)
We sat and talked with A and her mom, they are both so awesome. We are soo happy we got to know them. We arrived at the hospital about 10:30, they told us that if she didn't go into labor on her own by 3am the Dr was going to induce her. The nurse told us that active labor wouldn't really kick in till noonish the next day. We stayed for about 2 hrs and then headed to the hotel to try and sleep.
We woke up the next day around 8 showered and got ready to wait. I called A, her mom said nothing was going on she'd been induced, had an epidural and was now sleeping. She said she'd call us when something started. I was going crazy and exhausted so i decided to lay back down. Next thing I hear is Jamie on the phone saying "so she might have a c section at noon?" I look at the clock..it's 11:15. OMG my daughter is almost here!!! I FLEW out of bed, lol.

We grab lunch for us and A's mom, head back to the hospital. Mind you, we only met them the night before so this is all still totally weird! We have lunch hang out and wait for the Dr. He finally comes around 12:30, we're sent out of the room while he examines her. He comes out in the hall a couple of minutes later and tells us that it's been long enough, the baby is not progressing down because A's bones are to small and that it is time to go get her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We go down to the waiting room to wait, this was the longest hour EVER!! We're trying to read but it was impossible. Finally A's mom comes in and says "Congratulations mom and dad, she's beautiful". We all just started hugging and crying...while we are so happy, her heart is breaking, but she was so supportive and honestly happy for us. She took us to the nursery to see Isabella, unbelievable is the only thoughts running through my head...was this really for real? She was so adorable, and so big compared to the other babies!!lol

We stared at her for probably over an hour through the glass, we weren't allowed to see her yet. The nurse said it would be a while so we should go eat. We left the hospital to eat and check on Sadie, I just kept saying to Jamie I need to hold her, this doesn't feel real. When we got back to the hospital Isabella was not in the nursery, so we walked down to A's room, and there she is cuddled up in A's arms...tough, sooo tough. After a bit I finally got to hold her, she was so cute and so small, it was awesome. We stayed for a while, Jamie held her for a while too and then we felt we should give them so time. We went to the hotel had dinner with our parents and then headed to bed. Just as I was getting in bed Jamie asked if I wanted to go say goodnight to Bella, SURE!....so we hopped in the car and drove to the hospital. A had given me a hospital bracelet so we could see the baby whenever we wanted, which was so nice of her. When we got there we asked the nurse for her and we were told she was sleeping in her mothers room for the night...OUCH. The nurse asked who we were...OUCH. So we went home.

Friday was a long day. We brought A breakfast and hung out with her and Bella till the attorney arrived. When she got there she had Jamie and I sign all our stuff and then we were asked to wait in the waiting room while they went over everything with A and she signed the consent. That was around 2:30, at 3:30 I started walking around to see if i could find out anything...a nurse had just left her room so I started interrogating her about what was going on in the room, haha..she said there was paper every where and alot going on. Finally the lawyer came out to tell us that some of the paperwork that should have been done prior had not been and it would be a little longer but A HAD signed the consent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were Isabella's MOM AND DAD!!

Finally about 4:30 the lawyer came to get us and we headed to the court house with her to file everything. Nothing is ever that easy and something was missing so a portion of it could not be filed but the part that says we're her parents was filed and that's all that mattered! Honestly I was so exhausted at this point, i am standing my head laying down on the counter in the county clerks office...i was so done, sleep deprived and emotionally spent.

That night we took all the grandparents to the hospital to meet their new grand daughter....they were all soo excited. A and her mom came to meet them..that VERY emotional, but everyone agreed they were happy they got to meet eachother. We left around 9 and did not sneak back that night..i couldn't handle that again and since it was her last night with Bella, I had no doubt she would be in her room again. So we attempted to get some sleep.

Saturday we were at the hospital with breakfast by 7:30...A looked like she had been crying. We had a really good talk, she shared alot and asked alot of questions. Her biggest fear is that we will not stay in touch, that she will not know about all Isabella's firsts and that Bella will never know how much she loved her. She said she had no doubt we would be wonderful parents. I talked to her mom alot too..this wasn't easy for her either, she said she had to be strong for her daughter. By noon everyone was hungry so we went to get lunch for them and gave them some time alone with Bella. When we came back we were told that they were both discharged and we could take her home. HOLY CRAP!

Since A had to be wheeled out and Bella had to be wheeled out the nurse said A should hold her on the way out of the hospital. Again, tough, I'm her mom now..but I understood and I honestly did want her to have every second possible. So she was transported out while her mom and I walked behind talking and crying. Jamie met us out front with the car. So many tears, I can't even explain how hard this was. We were so happy and they were so sad. We all hugged and finally said goodbye. The moment we had been waiting for was here...she was in her car seat in our car and we were driving away from the hospital...with our daughter. There are no words to explain what we were feeling, how happy, how unbelievably happy we were.
We got to the hotel and were greeted by the grandparents and little miss Sadie waiting outside for us.
She was "home" and it was awesome!