Our New Life

Life has changed.  That's for sure.

 

Our beautiful, sweet, easy-going little girl, Keziah Madison Arnold, was born Monday, August 16, 2010 at 8:57pm, after over 30 hours of labor.  My labor was so long and intense that I honestly started to believe it would never end and she would never be born (ridiculous, I know).  So, when she finally was and they placed her immediately on my chest, I was SHOCKED (especially since the first thing she did was take her bloody little hand and smack me in the face!).  I mean, I was really excited when it finally came time to push, but I was so focused on getting her out, that I forgot to think about what it would be like once she was out.

I was speechless when little Keziah was on my chest staring me right in the face.  I just stared right back.  Her eyes were so wide open and she was so alert.  She wasn't crying at all, she was just staring at me.  All I could think was, "Oh my goodness, that's her!".  She was so perfect in every way.  She was more beautiful than I could have imagined.  The cutest thing was when my doctor asked, "Is she doing ok?", Keziah let out a little whimper that sounded just like "uh huh!!!". I instantly fell in love.  All the pain, discomfort, exhaustion, it was ALL worth it.

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly 11 weeks since that eventful day.  So much has changed in our lives since then, and I couldn't imagine it any other way.

I am a mom.

Whoa.

The first few weeks were hard, especially the nights.  When I was still pregnant, I couldn't fathom how I was going to survive the lack of sleep.  I've always been someone that has needed at least 8 hours of sleep to function.  So, when I was surviving on a collection of 1-3 hour naps, I was amazed at how much energy I had.  God really is a miracle worker.

I would say that my biggest struggle was breastfeeding.  Keziah was a sleepy little newborn and it would take me an hour or more just to get a full feeding in.  Newborns eat every 2-2 1/2 hours (from the start of one feeding to the start of the next), so I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch feeding.  I started feeling imprisoned, not to mention the fact that my butt was super sore haha.  But, I kept at it and I was rewarded by Keziah developing into a healthy baby that was gaining weight at a wonderful rate.  And, by the time Keziah was 3 or 4 weeks old, she was more awake and the feedings were only taking 20 minutes.

Now, I'm loving being a mom more than ever.  Keziah has been sleeping through the night since she was 7 weeks old.  She's been smiling regularly since 6 weeks.  Now she's using her hands, cooing, smiling HUGE and rolling over.  It is so much fun to watch her learn and develop so quickly.  Every day is something new and exciting.

And, every day I realize more and more just how truly blessed Jon and I are.