![\"\"](\"https:\/\/terracooper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/alayna-1833sm.jpg\" "\\"alayna-1833sm\\"")
<\/p>\nI got a text from Lauren at 8:35 am on April 27th saying, “So contractions started at about ten last night and haven’t stopped!”\u00a0 I called her and told her we needed to head to the hospital.\u00a0 She was worried they would send her home and I called my nurse friends Tiffany and Dani to get their opinion.\u00a0 They both said it was VERY unlikely they would send her home and to get there right away.\u00a0 We got there just after 11 am and were praying that they would let her stay.\u00a0 Luckily she was dialated to a 4 and they admitted her.\u00a0 She hasn’t eaten that morning and snuck a granola bar before the nurse came in.\u00a0 Tara and Claire came down with me.\u00a0 They stayed with Lauren as I took Matt downstairs to the cafeteria to get some lunch.\u00a0 He told me that if it was anyone but Josh and I he would have fought Lauren about placing the baby for adoption.\u00a0 I told him how much we loved him and want the best for him.\u00a0 We went back upstairs and Tara and Claire left and went and got food and cleaned my car.\u00a0 Mandy and Aaron came with gifts of chocolate, flowers and a card.\u00a0 Lauren may or may not have snuck a chocolate \ud83d\ude00\u00a0 How can you say no to that face?!<\/p>\n
The contractions started to get more painful and she got her epideral around 3 pm and Josh came just after that.\u00a0 Her mom, dad, niece and nephew also came to visit.\u00a0 I wanted everything to be perfect for Lauren and just how she wanted it to be.\u00a0 I had brought some message oil and messaged her hand and she fell asleep for about twenty minutes.\u00a0 I got her some flavored ice-first lime and then blueberry.\u00a0 The blueberry turned her lips and teeth bright blue.\u00a0 At 5:55 Matt came out after checking Lauren and said she was ready to start pushing!\u00a0 I couldn’t believe it!\u00a0 I was in shock.\u00a0 We had talked about me waiting in the hall and coming in as soon as Alayna was born to get pictures, but the hospital wouldn’t let me stay in the hall, so Lauren said to just stay in the room.\u00a0 I said I could just put my nose in a corner and she said she that I could stay by her head. \u00a0I ran into the room, got her a wet washcloth and had her start scrubbing the blue dye from the flavored ice off of her teeth and lips as I brushed her hair and put on some make up for her.\u00a0 We were planning on curling her hair and doing her make up, but Alayna decided she wanted to come a little sooner than we expected, which was just fine.\u00a0 Lauren was shaking really bad and I told her it was totally normal and I did it too. It was ok to be scared, because it is a scary thing!\u00a0 \u00a0At 6:00 they gave her oxygen. \u00a0At 6:09 she started pushing.\u00a0 The nurse told Matt to hold one of her legs and Lauren to hold the other.\u00a0 I held her hand and held her head to her chin as she pushed.\u00a0 She squeezed my hand really hard with each push and sometimes I would catch myself squeezing back and had to think about it to not squeeze.\u00a0 It was so amazing to be there with her and such a sacred and humbling experience.\u00a0 I was watching this sweet girl, who had become one of my best friends, doing something for me that I could not do for myself.\u00a0 I wanted to change places with her to take all of her pain, all of her suffering.\u00a0 I didn’t want her to go through any more pain than she needed to.\u00a0 Lauren did amazing.\u00a0 She pushed her out in about 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
At 6:55 Alayna Lauren made her entrance into the world.\u00a0 When she cried for the first time and we saw her we both burst into tears.\u00a0 I was trying to take pictures of Lauren seeing her while trying to see through my tears and not shake uncontrollably.\u00a0 They cleaned up Alayna next to Lauren and she got to see her.\u00a0 Then they took her to clean her off more, put cream on her eyes and gave her a shot.\u00a0 She cried for a bit, then would be silent. It scared me because I thought she wasn’t breathing.\u00a0 She was, she was just a good baby!\u00a0 Lauren’s midwife, Dede said that babies that come out screaming and scream for 20 minutes usually have colic. \u00a0Dede was right because she has been such a sweet, calm baby.<\/p>\n
I took some pictures of the nurses with Alayna and when they had wrapped her up about 7:05 they asked me if I wanted to hold her.\u00a0 I said, “No, Lauren needs to be first.”\u00a0 They were still stitching up\u00a0 Lauren so they had Matt hold her and bring her to Lauren.\u00a0 They both looked at Alayna with such love and shock that she was finally here!\u00a0 At 7:17 Matt asked if I wanted to hold her.\u00a0 I did for a minute while they continued to stitch Lauren up and stood by her bed so Lauren could see her.\u00a0 I gave her to Lauren so she could hold her again.\u00a0 We brought in Josh and her parents at 8:00 after Lauren was mostly cleaned up.\u00a0 They all got to hold Alayna and I took their pictures.\u00a0 Then Eric and Carrie came in.\u00a0 The nurses still needed to clean Lauren up some more and take her to post partum, so we all went out again until she was ready.\u00a0 They wheeled her up to post partum about 8:20 and more family came to meet Alayna.\u00a0 Aaron, Mandy, Mysty, Dallin, Carrie and her son, Madisson and her mom Liz, and Lauren’s parents were all in the room.\u00a0 Mandy had brought pizza, which I couldn’t eat.\u00a0 My stomach wouldn’t let me eat for the next few days without it hurting.<\/p>\n
Lauren wanted Josh and I to do Alayna’s first bath.\u00a0 They took her away for until about 10:20 in the nursery to do testing and when they brought her back Lauren tried to feed her her first bottle.\u00a0 Alayna was having a hard time with it so they decided to do the bath and try again.\u00a0 The nurse came and explained how they do the bath and I was worried I couldn’t do it fast enough or good enough and didn’t want her to get cold and lose her body temperature, so I asked the nurse to do it instead.\u00a0 I asked Lauren’s dad to hand Alayna over to the nurse and took pictures of her first bath.\u00a0 They got her dressed in a cute pink outfit and I took a few pictures of Lauren with her before we headed out. \u00a0I didn’t go to bed that night until about 4:30 in the morning.<\/p>\n
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Looking back at that day almost six months later I am beyond grateful I was there to witness her birth. \u00a0It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have had in my life and I am so honored that Lauren wanted me there with her-I can’t imagine what she was going through and I never really will. \u00a0I am SOOOO grateful that she allowed me to take pictures of the birth. \u00a0I knew it would be hard for both of us because of the situation, but we are both BEYOND grateful for these pictures. \u00a0I want to show Alayna how loved she was from the moment she was born. \u00a0You can really just SEE all the love everyone had for her that day. \u00a0I haven’t watched this video since the week after placement. \u00a0I watched it today so I could write about what my thoughts are now.<\/p>\n
To be honest, it is really hard to watch. \u00a0It is just such a scared experience to me that I have a hard time putting the right words with it. \u00a0It brings back such a range of emotions all at once. \u00a0I love looking at the pictures of my boys meeting her for the first time. \u00a0They were in such reverent awe of her. \u00a0I love looking at pictures of Matt and Lauren looking at Alayna and at each other with such love in their eyes. \u00a0I hope when Alayna sees this one day, she just can see how truly loved she is by so many.
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