After we collected some things I knocked on my parents door and told them we were off. My mom told me to call her when we knew if it was the "real thing" or not. My dad was dead asleep but found some energy to wake up and yell "false labor" and then fall back to sleep again... (for any and all of you that know my dad, you know that, unfortunately, this is pretty normal behavior from him!!!)
So off to the hospital we went. Me and my pregnant sister and baby Anabelle. I was tired and was sure that we would be going home in an hour or so because it was just too early for Sadie to have Anabelle... boy was I wrong!
The nursed hooked up the heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor and then they checked Sadie and said, "this baby is coming". Sadie was dilated to a 5 and having contractions every 4 minutes. I couldn't believe it! I called Jon and told him to get on the first flight to Utah... "our baby is coming"! He was silent on the phone for a second and then said "you've got to be kidding me"... then he mumbled something like "this isn't funny", and "I haven't got the room done", and "Anabelle is grounded", but then he snapped back into reality and said he'd check the flights and call me back. Unfortunately, the first flight out of Phoenix was at 7:00 am the following morning... wahhh!
The next phone call I made was to my mom, she couldn't believe it either... this baby was on her way! I'm sure my dad felt a little sheepish when my mom tapped him on his shoulder and said "it's not FALSE LABOR, it's the real thing"!... (wish I could have been there when he said... "oh", in a humble voice!). And then Sadie asked me to call Jen, one of her dearest friends (okay this is complicated to explain but Jen is Jake's (Anabelle's biological dad) step mom... get it?)
While Jen and my mom were on their way, Sadie got the epidural. She was so calm and good while they were giving her the shot, I was so proud of her (and I was proud of me for not making eye contact with the needle... I would have passed out!!!).
Anyway, we waited and waited and talked and talked and had such a fun time waiting for the process to take place. At about 5:50 am the nurse said it was time to start pushing. Sadie pushed for about 10 minutes and she was a little stubborn (to put it nicely) about the entire thing. She didn't want to push, she didn't like the way it felt, and her exact words were "I'm never going to have another baby again, I'm ADOPTING"! How funny!
After about 10 minutes the nurse told her to stop and wait for the doctor (she seriously pushed about 10 times) and just as the nurse was telling her to stop, Dr. Later (aka hotness) came in. He is such a good doctor. He talked with Sadie and calmed her down... calmed us all down. The next contraction started coming so Sadie pushed and wah-la, Baby Anabelle's head came out, next was her shoulders and body. It was literally the most amazing thing I've ever had the privilege to witness. Sadie was my hero that day (and many more days that followed the labor).
After the delivery they weighed and measured Anabelle and wrapped her in a blanket. The nurse took the new baby over to Sadie and handed it to her (beware of tears), Sadie said, "can you actually give her to my sister first, I want her to hold her first". I about died because we had previously talked about who would hold the baby first and I told Sadie that it would be her. The nurse smiled (knowing the circumstances) and handed little Anabelle to me. I was so happy to hold her, this little bundle of joy that I had been waiting for. This little girls spirit had comforted me on numerous occasions when I was doubtful of the whole adoption concept, and now I was holding her. I held her for a short period of time and then handed her to Sadie... again, my hero.
The next couple of days at the hospital were a blur. I stayed with Sadie during the night and was there most of the time during the day. We had plenty of family and friends visiting and it was nice... but awkward at times.
On Friday, August 31, we had a court date to make everything legal and official. We went into the judges chambers (Jon, me, Anabelle, Sadie, my dad and my mom) and Sadie was asked a million and one questions. At one point the judge had to get tissues for everyone but Sadie, who was strong and stable throughout the entire process. Finally the attorney got to the point when he said, "please state in your own words why you are placing this baby with another family". (Get ready for the tears again) Sadie said (and I'll do my best), "I am placing this baby because I want her to have what I can't give her. I want her to have a family with both parents, I want her to have brothers, I want to give her the best I can and by doing this, I am giving her up". YIKES. I sobbed. I still have a hard time re-living this moment.
Sadie didn't shed a tear, she was strong and so sure of herself, again... my hero. As soon as we were out of the court room and the door was shut behind us and all of the papers were signed, Sadie let it all out. She cried and we all cried with her. It was complete, it was final.
When we got home we decided to have a little family meeting and express our feelings about what had happened. We laughed and cried (mostly cried) and took turns talking about how we were feeling. Sadie was holding Anabelle when it was her turn to talk, she was the last, and what she said will touch me forever (warning, tears again)... she said with tears rolling down her cheeks "the hardest thing for me was thinking that no one could ever love Anabelle the way I do, but Tice, when I saw you hold her for the first time, I realized that you can love her as much as I do... and even more." Then Sadie got up and walked over to me and said "here" and handed Anabelle to me.
It was time to go. We said our good-byes and hugged and then got in our van and drove off. I was so sad watching my mom, dad, and Sadie wave good-bye as we drove down the street. What a hard emotional week, but so happy too.
I tell everyone, I feel GREAT! My body doesn't have to recover, I don't have aches or pains, I feel great. But as easy as the labor was for me physically, this was the hardest labor on my emotions... and I think it will be the hardest one for Sadie too. Sadie, you are my hero.
--Jen helping Sadie out.
--Mom and Sadie resting before pushing time!
---Sadie holding Anabelle.
--Thumbs up after birth.
--Great Grandma and Grandpa.
--Jon holding Anabelle for the first time.
--Saying goodbye to baby.
--"Get this gook out of my eye!"
--Saying good-bye at the hospital.
So last Tuesday I got a letter from Brayden's preschool stating that it was "Grandparent's Day" on Thursday of the same week. I was so sad because we live in Arizona and all of the "grandparents" live in Utah. I called Milli and we reminisced about the good ol' days at Draper Elementary and Grandparent Day's being a dragon (hollar to all Dewey Dragons!). Anyway, I was really sad that Brayden wouldn't get to have the fun day with his grandparents that I remembered having when I was little. I text my parents letting them know what was going on. A couple minutes after my text to them, my dad text back "want me to jump on a plane?" I answered "um, yeah!" but I thought he was being sarcastic when he said "okay!". In the meantime I started worrying that the preschoolers weren't actually celebrating Grandparent's Day because they don't have lunch at school. I called the school to find out all the details and they informed me that the preschoolers weren't involved in Grandparent's Day...(then don't send me a letter about it... dah!) Anyway, I called my dad and left him a message telling him to nevermind coming down... but when he called me back he said "I got your message but decided that I wanted to see those grandkids anyway." The next day my dad was here! What a guy!
We put my poor dad to work in the Arizona sun!
