Daphne Emma
Crandall was born on Monday, February 27
th, 2012. We are so happy to have her as a part of our family and love her more than we ever knew possible. The task of raising a child is so much more overwhelming than we ever realized it would be, but she is worth it. We feel honored that Heavenly Father trusted us enough to send us our little miracle baby.
Shortly after Dan and I got married I was diagnosed with
PCOS and told by doctors that having kids could potentially be an impossible dream. Last year as I was getting close to graduating from college, Dan and I felt that it was time for us to try to start our family. Shortly after we made the decision, the stars aligned and my routine labs were in the normal range for the first time since I was diagnosed (meaning that there was a chance I could get pregnant on my own for the first time ever). It was such an amazing feeling to know that "with God all things are possible" and that us having children was an actual possibility. A few months later that possibility became a reality. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be pregnant and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Yes, there were tough moments, but overall I loved the bonding experience I had with Daphne prior to her arrival.
Now onto her birth story:) Let me first off start by saying we were shocked she was born on her due date! Everyone had been teasing us (and secretly hoping) that she would come two days late on leap day and we had begun to believe that she wanted to come on that date as well. I hadn't progressed much at previous appointments and the doctor believed she would be late as well.
Sunday night my family brought us dinner and stayed for a few hours to visit. I started having some irregular contractions while they were there, but didn't think much of it because of how many times I had started to have false labor symptoms over the past few weeks. After they left we got ready for bed and settled down for the night about 11 PM. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to get any sleep at all because my contractions were starting to become more regular. By 2 AM they were coming about every 5 minutes, so I woke Dan up and told him that I wanted to walk the neighborhood to make sure that they stayed consistent (I didn't want to get to the hospital and be sent home). So we bundled up and walked around our circle for about 45 minutes and sure enough they started getting closer together. We arrived at the hospital at 3am only to be sent home about 5am. Although, by that point my contractions were about 2 minutes apart I was not dilating. They said to come back when the got more intense and closer together (not sure the latter was really possible!). The funny part about the word "intense" is that you don't know what more intense is until you experience it...I remember thinking "how can they get more intense than this?".
After coming home, we spent a few hours trying to rest between contractions and then went on another long walk. My contractions were becoming much worse but kept on getting further and further apart (and more irregular). I had a doctor's appointment at 3:30 that day, but around 1:30 I had Dan call their office because I wasn't sure what to do. My contractions were HORRIBLE but so irregular. I didn't want to go to the hospital for a second time and get sent home again. They said for me to come in right away instead of waiting for my appointment time. We got to the doctor's office about 2 PM. By the time we got there I realized that I was definitely in active labor and should be at the hospital instead....and sure enough, I was!
The doctor said that I was far enough along that I could have an epidural as soon as I got to the hospital. He called ahead and had them get a room ready for me. There was quite a bit of traffic so we didn't get to the hospital until about 3:20 PM (his office is about 20 minutes north of our home...and the hospital is 20 minutes south). At this point everything just went by so fast I didn't really have time to process the fact that I was about to have a baby.
By about 4:30 I had been admitted, taken to my room, changed, had an IV placed, and got an epidural. Shortly thereafter the doctor came in and broke my water. At this point we finally settled down to fill out all the hospital paperwork. When all the paperwork was finished, we finally looked at each other and wondered what we would do for the rest of the night. We were SURE that we had several hours to kill before Daphne would arrive. We decided to read our scriptures first and then go from there...right as we started reading my doctor came back in to see how I was doing before he headed home for a few hours (he wanted an idea of what time he thought he might have to come back). To
everyone's surprise it was time for Daphne to arrive!
My doctor and nurses got everything ready to go and then about 20 minutes later Daphne was born at 6:22 PM:) She came so fast that my brain was having a hard time processing the fact that she was finally here! I remember thinking earlier in the day, that some women are in the first stage of labor for days and that she probably wasn't coming on her due date. I had mentally prepared myself for that possibility, so when she came within 3 hours of us arriving at the hospital we were both shocked but so happy to have her here!
We had planned on updating everyone and calling our parents when we had an idea of how soon she would arrive (so they knew about what time to expect to come visit) but we had no time. So instead, we were able to make the fun phone calls about an hour after she was born surprising everyone that she had already made her debut. Shortly after we got checked into our room in
postpartum, our family arrived. It was great to have them there. They were able to watch Dan give Daphne her first bath and visit for a little while. The
CNA on shift happened to be my
SIL,
Natatlie's, close friend. It was fun to have someone we knew there to help us and teach Dan how to give Daphne a bath.
We stayed at the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. We had some fun visitors during our stay. Since we have been home, life has definitely been a little hectic but we have enjoyed the experience so much. Although sometimes the days (or more accurate...the nights!) can be long, we can't believe how quickly time has gone by! Our little baby girl is already 3 weeks old. It seems like just yesterday she was born, but at the same time like she has always been with us. It's hard to remember what life was like before her. She definitely has us, as well as the rest of the family, smitten. She is one sweet girl and brings a very special spirit to our home. We look forward to all the fun memories we will make with her in the future.
We have been so grateful for all the help and support we have been given since we came home. So many family and friends have spoiled us with meals and leftovers that today (2.5 weeks since we came home) is only the third I have had to figure out dinner on my own. I am so grateful as well for the help my mom has given me. She has spent many hours either helping out or giving advice and support over the phone. My Dad and my Mother-in-law have been great as well at helping watch Daphne when needed. Dan's schedule has been extremely busy between work, school, and his church calling so we have really appreciated all the extra helping hands.
I promise to add some pictures soon!
