Last week, we welcomed our precious baby girl, Aria, into the world. We have been soaking in all the newborn snuggles, sleepy eyes, and squeaky noises. It’s been such a long-awaited joy to have her in our home. And we are so thankful for the blessing of her in our lives.

Aria’s birth was the least dramatic out of each of my labors, since we had a planned c-section scheduled ahead of time. Even though I knew that was the plan for most of my pregnancy; it was very emotionally challenging for me to work through. It was not what I originally wanted. As I lay there in the moments leading up to her birth, I had to let go of that disappointment and pray, “Lord let me rejoice in her healthy arrival and not focus on the things I can’t control.” Both of my other labors had ended up as emergency c-sections due to my littles having their heart-rates continue to drop as I prepared to push.

For my oldest, I wasn’t at all prepared for a c-section and honestly the whole situation was quite traumatic for me. It was at the beginning of Covid with impending threats to not allow my husband there for my labor and I ended up in an induction with no sleep all night. They didn’t even mention a c-section until 5 minutes after telling me that I would be preparing to push; when a bunch of people came into my room and told me that I’d be having a c-section as they shoved papers into my face for me to sign and rolled me towards surgery. For my son, I went into labor naturally and even though it ended up as a c-section, it was a redemptive experience. I was able to labor naturally; the team communicated well with me and tried everything they could before it ended up a c-section.

This time around, even though I knew there were some hospitals that would allow me to try for a VBAC, the one that was in our insurance network did not. I knew I had the whole pregnancy to mentally prepare for it and I figured in some ways it would be nice because we could plan childcare ahead of time, not worry about me going into labor while Phil was working, and I would be able to guarantee that I could be awake and not miss the birth of our baby girl.

Leading up to her birthdate though, I continued to deal with sad emotions that I would never get the chance to experience a vaginal delivery. I also shared with some friends that I thought knowing the date would decrease stress-but it actually made me feel like there was a deadline and I needed to get everything done before then, rather than the usual “Well when she comes, she comes!”. The morning of my c-section, my mom came to watch the other 3 kids and Phil and I headed off to the hospital. They prepped like they would for any other surgery and when the time came, they got everything ready before Phil was able to come into the room.

Once the process started, I was filled with peace and was able to enjoy the time with our newest arrival, in ways that I hadn’t with my other deliveries. They did not have a clear drape as an option, but she cried almost immediately and they held her up over the blue drape for me to see. It almost felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe that Aria was finally here and that she was ours. After they completed the delayed cord clamping and Phil cut the cord, they quickly looked her over with Phil next to her, and me being able to see everything. Then he brought her over and I was able to skin to skin with her as they finished the surgery. The whole team communicated well with me and were very honoring to our wishes.

When we were in recovery, I felt a bit nauseous, but was able to hold her and care for her. At one point she had a little trouble with regulating her temperature so they moved her under the crib warmer next to me. Then she was brought up to our room in that crib. Overall, with having a planned c-section, I felt like it had been my best recovery so far. I was able to move more quickly and felt better and able to really focus on her and enjoy our time together in the hospital.

My mom brought all three kids that evening to meet her and they fell in love with her too. Phil stayed with us the first night and then the second night he was home with the kids. I was able to get up and care for her on my own. I also really appreciated our nurse the second night who really worked hard not to disturb us unless necessary. We were able to be discharged the second day around lunchtime and my mom was at home with the littles so that Phil and Isa could come pick us up.

Recovery since getting home has been a little more challenging with having 3, 2 and under in our home. Phil and my mom have been so helpful and I have been able to stay in bed most of the time and focus on Aria and nursing. But I’ve also pushed it a little too hard a few times, when trying to help with the other littles. Sleep has been interesting with 2 at different ages who are not sleeping through the night. We will see how it goes with Phil heading back to work tomorrow. There is definitely going to be an adjustment period as we figure out what it looks like as a family of 6. But so far our snuggly, sleepy babe, has seemed to adjust into our family quite well.