In the hours immediately following Tracey Ann's birth, there is so much I want to remember.
When my parents were FINALLY invited in (it took some time for my body to be repaired), they knew they had a healthy grandchild, but they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl yet. Although they had been at the hospital for hours -- since around 4:00pm, they had not seen me at all since I left the house that morning.
Chris and I had made the decision very early on, that, as much as we love our parents, they would not be invited in the room during labor and delivery. They were welcomed to be at the hospital, but the intensity of labor and delivery was reserved to just the two of us -- and the hospital staff. Also, we knew that I was hoping and planning to give birth naturally, and that would be hard for my parents to see -- the amount of pain I was in, and I only wanted people around me telling me how well I was doing, and telling me I was doing great... not telling me that I was in too much pain, and to give up. Were were very happy with our decision to reserve labor and delivery for just the two of us.
When my parents came into the room, I was holding Tracey Ann, and Chris called his parents on facetime. They both heard the news at the same time...
I said that I wanted to introduce them to their new granddaughter, Tracey Ann Miller.
The next hour was a blur... everyone asking questions about how everything went and what we knew about Tracey Ann thus far. The truth is, we hardly knew anything. She hadn't even been weighed yet. Our birth plan asked that she come right onto my chest after birth and be given the opportunity to nurse indefinitely.
They probably weighed and measured her about 45 minutes after she was born. That was also when they took her little footprints, and when Hubby and my parents held her for the first time.
In addition to nursing, measurements, and holding our new baby, the next hour included calling Chris' siblings, facetime with my cousin, calling my childhood best friend, and calling my honorary aunt and uncle. Chris and I had drafted an email that he would send out to our close friends and family the next day -- before the news went on facebook, but there were a very few special people that we called that first night she was born.
Calling Chris' siblings was a given and they had been kept informed through the grapevine that day as we went to the hospital, and when I started pushing. My cousin had kept in touch with my parents that day and she couldn't wait to hear the news.
The other two calls that we made, were not planned, and surprised me that, in those first hours of Tracey Ann's life, that these were the people we called. Of all of my friends throughout the years, I had to call my childhood best friend, Abbie. Abbie and I talk once or twice a year, and we see each other every few years, and we always pick up exactly where we left off. We know each other so well as adults because we understand where each other came from. She lives in New York, and it was around 9:00 MST when I called. Upon hearing our exciting news, the first thing she said was, "Oh my gosh, Brooke Sanden gave her daughter a middle name?!?!" Only my dear friend, Abbie Rockwood would know me so well to say this. She remembers the years and years I hated that I didn't have a middle name... and then the decision in high school when I thought it was kind of cool, and maybe I'd not give my daughter a middle name, too.
I also called my honorary aunt and uncle, Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginger. These are the first people my parents called when I was born. Of course, I was born a little after midnight, so my parents woke up Aunt Ginger and Uncle Bill around 2:00am. Apparently I woke them up with this call too, but it was more like 11:00pm... they said they had just turned out the lights.
These were such a special few hours right after Tracey Ann was born. So much joy, so much excitement. Sweet Tracey Ann just kept nursing, and looking around at this beautiful new world she had entered. She was so alert even from birth.
My parents left the hospital around 9:30pm... but the night's excitement was far from over.
When my parents were FINALLY invited in (it took some time for my body to be repaired), they knew they had a healthy grandchild, but they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl yet. Although they had been at the hospital for hours -- since around 4:00pm, they had not seen me at all since I left the house that morning.
Chris and I had made the decision very early on, that, as much as we love our parents, they would not be invited in the room during labor and delivery. They were welcomed to be at the hospital, but the intensity of labor and delivery was reserved to just the two of us -- and the hospital staff. Also, we knew that I was hoping and planning to give birth naturally, and that would be hard for my parents to see -- the amount of pain I was in, and I only wanted people around me telling me how well I was doing, and telling me I was doing great... not telling me that I was in too much pain, and to give up. Were were very happy with our decision to reserve labor and delivery for just the two of us.
When my parents came into the room, I was holding Tracey Ann, and Chris called his parents on facetime. They both heard the news at the same time...
I said that I wanted to introduce them to their new granddaughter, Tracey Ann Miller.
The next hour was a blur... everyone asking questions about how everything went and what we knew about Tracey Ann thus far. The truth is, we hardly knew anything. She hadn't even been weighed yet. Our birth plan asked that she come right onto my chest after birth and be given the opportunity to nurse indefinitely.
They probably weighed and measured her about 45 minutes after she was born. That was also when they took her little footprints, and when Hubby and my parents held her for the first time.
In addition to nursing, measurements, and holding our new baby, the next hour included calling Chris' siblings, facetime with my cousin, calling my childhood best friend, and calling my honorary aunt and uncle. Chris and I had drafted an email that he would send out to our close friends and family the next day -- before the news went on facebook, but there were a very few special people that we called that first night she was born.
Calling Chris' siblings was a given and they had been kept informed through the grapevine that day as we went to the hospital, and when I started pushing. My cousin had kept in touch with my parents that day and she couldn't wait to hear the news.
The other two calls that we made, were not planned, and surprised me that, in those first hours of Tracey Ann's life, that these were the people we called. Of all of my friends throughout the years, I had to call my childhood best friend, Abbie. Abbie and I talk once or twice a year, and we see each other every few years, and we always pick up exactly where we left off. We know each other so well as adults because we understand where each other came from. She lives in New York, and it was around 9:00 MST when I called. Upon hearing our exciting news, the first thing she said was, "Oh my gosh, Brooke Sanden gave her daughter a middle name?!?!" Only my dear friend, Abbie Rockwood would know me so well to say this. She remembers the years and years I hated that I didn't have a middle name... and then the decision in high school when I thought it was kind of cool, and maybe I'd not give my daughter a middle name, too.
I also called my honorary aunt and uncle, Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginger. These are the first people my parents called when I was born. Of course, I was born a little after midnight, so my parents woke up Aunt Ginger and Uncle Bill around 2:00am. Apparently I woke them up with this call too, but it was more like 11:00pm... they said they had just turned out the lights.
These were such a special few hours right after Tracey Ann was born. So much joy, so much excitement. Sweet Tracey Ann just kept nursing, and looking around at this beautiful new world she had entered. She was so alert even from birth.
My parents left the hospital around 9:30pm... but the night's excitement was far from over.
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