Heidi and Aaron's Roller Coaster Ride: Our Miracle Before Christmas

Sorry for not updating sooner, I know I have been slacking off with the blog. I do have a good reason though:)

Lady L was scheduled to be induced last Wednesday, December 19th. However, at her appointment on December 17th, she was moved up to Tuesday evening. Before the work day had ended on Monday, she had been rescheduled for Tuesday morning at 8am. We were ecstatic, anxious, and so excited to meet our little bundle of joy. Our plan was to go to bed early, sleep as late as we could, and get ready and do a final clean of the house before heading in to the hospital.

Our plans changed when my phone range at 4am, and it was J- Lady L's husband. She had been having contractions, and they were heading in to the hospital. Aaron and I clearly have two different memories of what happened next. I jumped in the shower, took an 8 minute shower (which is a record for me) and told Aaron we may as well head in, no use in hanging around the house. He agreed, and while he was pondering how many sodas he should bring along, I was in the car, honking (yes, 4:30am- sorry neighbors) to move him along. He still hadn't moved all that quick, so I backed up to save him a few steps, before I realized it was trash day, and yes, I knocked the trash bin over.

We made it to the hospital and hung out in the family waiting room before Lady L and Josh brought us back to the room. She was dilated to 5, and had an epidural put in. We chatted for a while, and watched part of "Christmas Vacation" before she was ready for some rest. Aaron and I went back to the waiting room, watched a movie, ate some food, and napped. At 11:00am, contractions had slowed down pretty good, but she was dilated to 6, so they broke her water. At 1:00, there had been no change, so they started her on pitocin to get things moving along. Aaron was planning to buy a newspaper, and maybe grab a snack. Just before he was about to leave, he received a text from hi friend wondering how things were going, and he had just started to reply. One of the nurses came back to the room and let us know that the time was coming soon. She warned us the the pediatric team had joined the room, not to be alarmed, but Lady L's fluid had a tinge of color in it, an indication that the baby may had swallowed the meconium, and that they would use suction to remove it all and check her lungs. The nurse told us to use the restroom if we needed, gather our stuff, and make our way back. I was ready to go immediately, and Aaron was answering his text before we were on our way. The nurse came out and told us to hurry, Lady L was about to push (guys, listen to your wives when they tell you to put your phone away FYI.)

We made it into the room, set down our stuff, and Lady L moved her oxygen mask to ask the doctor if she could push. They said yes, she pushed once, and out came our sweet little miracle. She screamed, wailed, and showed off those perfect lungs enough to make the peds crew smile, tell us they would suction her mouth, but her lungs were in great shape. Aaron cut her umbilical cord, and they dusted her off. She settled down really quickly, and we saw what a beautiful, sweet baby she was right away. At 2:46pm on Tuesday, December 18th, Maizy Sue Klassen Dube was born 20.5 inches long, and 7lbs, 1oz. We took turns holding her, and of course Lady L was right after us. The expressions on both of their faces was amazing. Maizy scored 9 on both of her new baby tests.

We hung around for a while, before we were transferred to our own rooms (lady L was next door) and we spend the next couple of days getting to know our baby. All of the doctors and nurses commented on how alert she was right away. She is a perfect combination of Aaron and I. She definitely takes after my dad's side with the big blue eyes (so far:)) but has Aaron's nose, and a combination of the rest of her features. Lady L was able to leave before noon the next day. We stayed until Thursday, and were released into a perfect Minnesota blizzard. It was a nice ride, no worries with the roads.

Maizy has been a good sleeper, with the exception of one night from 12-6am when she was a little mixed up on her schedule. She isn't fussy, but wails sometimes when we change her clothes or diapers. She doesn't seem to be a fan of being cold, but we'll fix that:) She smiles a lot of the time (we know they aren't intentional, but they are beautiful anyway) and she is very comfortable and content with new friends, kids, and odd cats. She has been to 2 family Christmas gatherings, and her first mass. She was a perfect champ at both.

We are so thankful for this perfect miracle in our lives. We could not have done this without all of the support from our family, and friends, and we are so appreciative of all of your prayers and well wishes. Of course, we are forever in a debt of gratitude to Lady L and her family. They all made huge sacrifices over the year so that Aaron and I could finally have a child that we have wanted for so long. We will never, ever take her for granted.

Xoxo