Livin' The Good Life: Aubrie Michelle Rucker is HERE!!

8/12/08

Aubrie Michelle Rucker is HERE!!

I am now a proud aunt of a sweet, beautiful, precious baby girl: Aubrie Michelle Rucker. She was born on Monday, August 11, 2008 at 4:40 am, weighed 7 lb. 13 oz. and measured 20 in. I cannot tell you how proud I am and what fun the whole fam had at the hospital. Let me do a recap for you.

I got a call from momma about 8 am on sunday morning informing me that Andrea had been having contractions since 1am. They were waiting for her contractions to be 5 min. apart before they went to the hospital. So, the waiting game began. Matt and I decided to go to the early service at church so we could be available if they went to the hospital later that morning (New Spring is right down the street from St. Francis). After church we called momma and they informed us that everyone was on the way to the hospital. Matt and I arrived a little before 11 am. A few minutes later everyone else arrived. Little did we know that we'd be leaving very soon. Ruck and Andrea walked out, disappointed, and said that she was still only 1 cm dilated and could go home and rest until the contractions got more severe.

What did we all do? Well, we all loaded up (me, Matt, mom, dad, Chad, Michelle, Mark, Andrea, and Andrea's parents) and went to eat lunch at Stax Omega. We had so much fun (except for Andrea every 5 min or so having contractions in between eating her french toast and drinking her drink). After our leisurely brunch we all went our separate ways. At 4pm I got a call from mom that they were heading back to the hospital because Andrea's contractions were getting more severe. So, we packed our things back up and headed to the hospital to wait this thing out. Sure enough when we got there, they admitted her (she was 3 cm dilated) and in pain. Andrea and Mark would occasionally walk through the waiting room prior to her receiving her epidural (she wanted to wait it out as long as possible so she wouldn't be confined to her bed). At about 7:30 pm or so she finally decided to get her epidural (after that she was in heaven). :)

We would all take turns hanging out in the waiting room and going to their room to hang for a few. Gosh they were so relaxed and calm-they wanted us to come visit. About 10:30 pm or so, Matt and Michelle had to leave because they had to get up really early the next morning for work. So, that left me, mom, dad, Chad, Andrea's parents and uncle Adger (who showed up about midnight). About 11pm Mark told me to come in their room and lay on the couch and rest up. So, while everyone else "napped" in the waiting room, I headed to their room to watch the olympics and try to sleep. It was such a special moment to share and I will never forget it. About 12:30 am, I slipped out while the nurse came in to check Andrea's progress. After this time, there was no more sleeping. The diagnosis: about 6 or 7 cm dilated (I can't remember). We still had a long ways to go. :)

For the rest of the time we all just hung out, looked up jokes online (Chad entertained us), played games, became delirious, etc. About 4am the nurse came out to tell us that Andrea was going to start pushing and that they would keep us posted. We were pumped!! Mom and I sat with our camera and video camera, just waiting for Mark or the nurse to come tell us when she had arrived. At 4:40 am I heard a baby's cry and I told mom I just knew it was Aubrie. Mom didn't believe me because she said there was no way we would be able to hear her from where we were. :) At 5:05 am the nurse came down the hall to tell us to go in and they were ready. By the way, Aubrie was born at 4:40 am so that was her cry I heard. :) I cannot tell you how hard it was for me not to pee my pants on that walk down the hall because I was so excited. We all walked down the hall and peeked through the door and I will never forget the look on Mark's face. He had the biggest smile on his face and tears in his eyes and said through a giggle, "Look at her! Yall just look at her!" It was the most tender moment ever-to see how proud my brother, this new daddy, was of his little girl.

We all took our turns holding her (they were awesome about insisting that we all hold her). I was fine until I took her in my arms-I cried like a baby. I can't imagine how I will be when Cadence gets here-I'll probably need some strong drugs to sedate me haha. We had such a blast with the whole family hanging out in anticipation and then sharing this special moment together. I love my family, but I love them even more now-and especially this sweet new edition.

We all finally left the hospital about 5:45 am to return to our homes to sleep. I probably got about 2 hours of sleep before having to head into work the next day. Then of course after work, we headed back to the hospital to see her and have her birthday party (Mark and Andrea had made her a cake when her labor pains began). So, we all sang to her and enjoyed cake and each other. So much fun! I am ready to go love on her some more. :)