Baker's Birth Story

She's here!
Our sweet, baby girl is finally here.

Baker Henley 
10/9/2019
7 lbs 9 oz
20" long

For months & months, you find yourself wondering how "d" day is going to go down-& before you can blink when you hit the 3rd trimester- you find yourself with a sweet baby in your arms & unsure of how she got there!  Those days in the hospital are such a whirlwind!

It was mine & Cam's fall break.  The doctor had "stripped my membranes" on the Thursday before, & swore she didn't think I would make it through the week.  For two weeks we had planned for induction on the 11th if she didn't come on her own.  I hadn't heard back from the hospital about scheduling, so I called on Monday to check in.

"We're sorry but they are booked up.  The next induction we have available in October 23rd.  We can put you on a waiting list for the 17th."

I was dilated to a 4 on that Thursday, & my body was feeling it!
Cade & my sister, "C", basically decided to put me in pregnancy bootcamp with the induction being backed up to past my due date.
I started squatting, walking stairs, dance work out videos, lunges, pregnancy yoga poses, walking every square inch of our neighborhood (also diffused clary sage oil & ate pineapple 😂)-you name it.

I was supposed to go to the doctor again on the Thursday of fall break, but Wednesday morning...
contractions started coming.  And they didn't stop.
I started writing them down & about three hours later...they told us to make our way to the hospital.

The smallest details of the day matter to me- even things like what was on our t.v. with Cam it was Carolina Panthers, Conley was also panthers with a side of Dancing with the Stars, and with Baker...it was Scooby Doo-Cade was being nice & turned it to the festive channel😂

Cade came home from work to pick me up, we loaded our bags (just in case) & arrived ar the hospital around 12 pm.  I was a little nervous that they would turn us away with how crowded the hospital was rumored to be, but after hooking me up to the monitor & finding that I was then dilated to a 6...
they sent us to a room to prepare to meet our little girl!

It's always surreal to think-we are going to meet our baby today!
The one I have carried for 9 months, but dreamed about my whole life.
Today!  Today is the day.  Life would never be the same again-another moment we would remember for the rest of our lives.  A day that will always stand out.
Always hard for me to comprehend, but the excitement is like no other.

Also the nerves are there.  All the poking & proding.
They had to start my IV twice because they blew out a vein.
And my epidural took, but only to one side.  We did end up getting that fixed, and then it was just time to wait.

My water never breaks in labor, so a couple hours later, my doctor came in & broke my water.
About an hour later, after listening to a natural birther scream bloody murder down the hall (Cade stood outside the door & listened the entire time in amazement🙈).  Doc came to my room & they said, "can you push?  STOP!"  (Turns out, it was definitely time).
One push & Baker Henley Adams came into this world at 5:29 pm.

They let me help get her & laid her on me for skin to skin.  She cried & I cried.  Pretty sure Cade did too.  The daughter I had prayed & prayed for, laid in my arms-healthy, beautiful, perfect as I could ever imagine.  So many emotions.  God is so so good.

Soon after our friend, the office manager, & photographer (what a woman, right?) came in to do pictures of the boys meeting her for the first time.

Again, NO other feeling in the world can surpass seeing your babies meet their sibling for the first time.  Another part of me felt so worried about Conley.  He a hard time adjusting to the hospital & the crowd of all of us admiring his little sister.  I could see it all over him that he was scared, confused, and unsure of what was going on.  I cried when they left the night we had to stay in the hospital.  He just seemed like a lost puppy.  But, of course he was fine.

first diaper change :)

And he was his old self the minute life turned back to normal.
Now he even says, "Mom, I love Baker so much!" & loves to pet her head.  He even held her today TWICE!

The sweetest little gifts:

Our awesome family💕

No words!

We got to come home for the first time ever after one night.
Granted, it was about 10 pm when we rolled into our neighborhood & poor Cade had to go back to the hospital to get the papers we forgot-BUT-we were home!

She didn't sleep a wink that first night.
And neither did we!

A few nights later, and she is the best sleeper ever.  She is the most precious baby girl I could have ever dreamed for.  I can't wait for this new adventure:)
More to come!

My First, My Next, My Last || My Purpose

When I was a little girl, I had big dreams for myself (as any little girl does, right?).

I wanted to be an olympic gymnast, a ballerina, a movie star...you know the saying-if you can dream it you can be it.  I carelessly & truly embraced those words for a really long time.

As I got older, naturally my little girl dreams slipped away & nothing really took the place of those dreams.  Reality sat in & in walked the responsibility of adulting as they call it these days!

I'm not going to lie, I almost felt lost as to what my purpose was after high school ended.  Who I was made to be, or what I was supposed to be doing.  How would I be special?  I kept trucking through life in a fog, unsure, but I've always thought-if I'm still here, God's not done with me yet.  

Maybe you can relate to the lyrics of this song I sang as a kid in church?

He's still working on me.

To make me what I ought to be.  

It took him just a week to make the moon, & the stars,

the sun & the earth, & Jupiter & Mars.

But I'll be perfect just according to his plan,

fashioned by the masters loving hands.

As I was nearing the end of college, I knew God was still working though things weren't always clear.    I didn't always know what I wanted to do or where I was supposed to be, but I did have an inkling of who I was supposed to be with.  And that was the beginning of God's special plan for me.  God blessed me with marriage at the age of 20.  He gave me a best friend -a life partner & I am forever grateful.  We were young, naive, & yes it could have went terribly wrong. But, God looked after us & still does to this day.  Could it have all ended there (my purpose, not marriage lol) & I'd have been perfectly happy?  I absolutely think so.  I didn't know what having children was like.  I knew I'd like to have some one day, just because, that's what you did right?  Got a job, got married, had kids.

The American Dream.

As I was in my last year of grad school, enjoying early marriage, gradually trying to get the adult life down, things took a crazy turn.  An unplanned turn.

We found out, after only three years of marriage, I was pregnant.

Something that hadn't even really came into conversation yet, because I hadn't even finished school!

I didn't even have a job!

Lots of emotions, lots of questions as to how we would make this work, but not only did God see us through, he was about to show me something more precious than I could ever imagine.

Even wilder than being a ballerina, an olympic gymnast, or anything else this world could offer.

Being a mama.

The minute Cam came in to this world, my purpose became clear to me.   

I remember the way I looked at my mama all the years before & still do to this day, & realized-that's me now.  That's what I am to this little boy-for the rest of his and my life, I'll always be.  The emotions of that recognition, to that understanding, is like no other I have ever experienced before.  It's like I finally figured out what I was made for.  

About a year and a half went by & we found out we were expecting Conley.

Submerged with purpose & excited to have not one but TWO little lives depending on us-I just can't explain it.  That's how I felt.  I had already began to feel the bittersweetness of watching Cam grow at warp speed, so having another baby around was a very welcoming thought.  I was learning, you never really know or understand the true meaning of "life is like a vapor" until you have your own kids to measure the speed of time with. Watching them grow, being there for it all & having my own family-I just can't put into words the joy Jesus has given me in those moments.  

I wouldn't take anything for any of it & sometimes, the swiftness of it all can be an overwhelming emotion.

Now here I am, 6 and a half years later, with two little boys & hours/days away from meeting our little girl.  Our last baby & though I questioned if I'd ever let myself feel it- I have a sense of completion.  Cam is in the FIRST grade, Conley will be starting preschool next fall (we are gradually planning on getting him into a mothers day out program after baby) & one last newborn.  With each stage, my heart jumps for joy & aches for one more day when they themselves were newborns.

The minute I had Cam, I knew I wanted three.  I'm not sure how, it was just the number of completion to me.  And what a blessing it is for that dream to come true!

The smell of that soft baby skin, those first smiles, those tiny little clothes, & the way they can lay in your arms all day as if there is no other place they'd rather be...all the little odd & ends you just know you'll need to get them through the first year-though fleeting & fast, have to some day come to an end.  I plan to embrace every second of that one more time.  And as she grows, I plan to embrace that too.  Just as I have with my boys, realizing that those moments are just as special & just as important.  Sure, they may not need me as much as they once did each year as they grow.  But I've seen that with every season is something special.  Something to be celebrated.

I feel like this post is all. over. the. place.  But, it's one I knew I'd always want to make sure to do.

Maybe you are like I was, & in a time in your life where things don't make sense.
Your own life doesn't feel like it's being used or has purpose.
I encourage you to keep looking up & trusting in Him!  It may take longer than you hope, but if you are alive you have a very special purpose God has always had in mind for you.

Maybe God's plan for your life isn't to be a mom or dad.

Maybe it's something you could never imagine in your wildest dreams.
Something you've never thought of.  Or maybe something you have thought of, but have yet to realize the value or impact it could make on you (as this was in my case).

I don't know, but I know that if you trust Him, he will show you your purpose-and that purpose WILL carry you.  It will carry you through the ups and downs of any situation.

He will bless you with the special role he planned for you before he created the earth.

Dear B,
I am so excited & anxious to finally meet you.  Dreams of you have swirled in my head, heart, & prayers ever since meeting your sweet brothers.  And now, they are coming to life.  As I feel your little feet kick, your arms move, & have witnessed the last 9 months of God knitting life for the last time inside me, I've tried to treasure every second as I plan to when you finally arrive.  The anticipation fuels my desire for it to all be over so I can hold you, but the realization that you are our last, makes me wish for it to all slow down & try to savor every moment as it should be remembered.  Perhaps God blessed me with a daughter so I can witness you find this same purpose, this same calling.  Maybe, maybe not.  Regardless, I count it the best years of my life to watch you & your brothers grow with your daddy.  I pray you all three grow up with the best memories, the best childhood, the best days as you are in our care and though you may leave & not need us as much one day.. may you always come home.  May we always be close.  May you always have Jesus by your side leading the way so that I'll know, even if I'm not there, you are in the BEST hands.
Love you for ever, love you always...my purpose you three will always be.
Mama/Mommy/Mom
(all the names!🤗)

38 weeks

How far along?  38 weeks
Total Weight Gain: 33 lbs
What to wear: Cade's tee shirts at this point😂
Movement:  Holy Toledo.  Does this girl move.  I think she is going to be a spit fire...
Sleep: I'm so sore.  I can barely turn over in bed to go pee at night.  And I do that a lot.  It's pretty hard to sleep.
Best moment this week:  Things are starting to trickle together & what's better is that God kind of put my mind to rest about all that.  See last post.🤗
Miss anything?  Not waddling, getting to jump at the trampoline park😋, sleep, working out.  But, I know this is such a time to savor so all that doesn't matter that much right now.
Cravings:  ICE!  Shaved ice from Pelican's is what dreams are made of.  Frozen key lime pie greek yogurt.
Gender: Sweet baby girl
Looking forward to:  Our baby girl.  She is going to be here so soon.  But also my last days with my last bump and those sweet flutters/baby kicks...bittersweet!