Happy 'one week' Belle

At around this time last week Arabella was born. At 2:28pm, to be exact. Happy one week birthday. I remember the lead doctors words as soon as Belle came out. "Welcome to the world." 

It was an awesome sight. Nothing can prepare you for the first glimpse of your child coming into the world. I took at peek at Belle as she came out, her eyes still closed. She didn't make a sound. "She looks beautiful", I told Kiera. "I'm so proud of you. Thank you."

I stayed by Kiera's side that entire time as the doctors stitched up her uterus, and then her stomach. They were pushing down on her so hard. I had a rosary and I clutched it the entire time. "Please Lord just let this baby be okay", I was thinking to myself. We didn't know what condition she was in. She began showing signs of distress in the womb so we were just praying that she has enough strength to pull through (especially in the first few hours post-delivery). I was texting my family in the moments that she came out. "Baby is out," I remember writing. "Kiera is being stitched up."

Everyone was praying for us and this baby. Everyone was tuning in (so to speak) and going through the motions with us.

This is how things looked as the doctors were wrapping up and wiping Kiera down. The staff was so professional and caring. "Congratulations!" they kept telling me. It made me smile. I was so proud. 

Here we were, with Belle finally out of the womb, and in the weeks leading up to the c-section we thought we were going to lose her. We were waiting for her to get as close to 500 grams as possible before we took the plunge. It's such a leap of faith. 

We went from the lowest of lows, to the highest of highs. It feels like that day was so long ago.