My Prince is here!

Micah James Golden is here!  He was born March 9, 2014, at 7:56 pm, weighing 7 lb, 3 oz, and 20 in long.  He is healthy, and we are home!  What an amazing blessing he is!

Here's his birth story:

We were not sharing with everyone, but we had a C section scheduled for March 10, when Micah would be 37 weeks.  All my doctors agreed that this was best for him and me, since I had placenta previa.  We were balancing me going into labor with getting him as close to term as possible.  So March 10th was the plan.  I was excited because March 10 was Grace's due date, and I knew it would be a special date!

Sunday March 9 didn't seem any different than any other day really.  I woke up with lower back pain, but didn't think anything of it, since my back often hurts.  We went to church, and had lunch with Chad's family like normal.  Here are the pictures we took Sunday after church.  I didn't know they would be the last pictures of our family of three!

Sunday afternoon, we hung out at our house with my parents.  I was eating Girl Scout cookies I've refused to share with anyone this year (I'm pregnant!), when all of the sudden I felt a gush.  ***Side note: This became a funny story...I dreaded everyone asking when I ate last, and told Chad on the way to the hospital that this could get embarrassing.  Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE asked when I ate last, what I ate, and (laughing when I said Do-si-does Girl Scout cookies) several even asked how many I ate!  Hello, I'm PREGNANT!!!  I didn't count them-ha!***  Anyway, back to the gush...I was sure it was nothing but went to the bathroom to discover I was bleeding.  I knew this was a potential and likely complication with placenta previa, but since it hadn't happened the entire pregnancy, I had started feeling safe that it wouldn't happen.  I freaked out, and Chad and I finished packing our bags quickly and rushed to the hospital, following my doctor's instructions.  We got there about 5:15 pm, they asked a bunch of questions and hooked me up to the monitor.  Micah's heart rate was perfect.  I was starting to feel some mild contractions.  The doctor there, who happened to be one of the doctors when I had Grace (was awesome to see a familiar face I knew I could trust) called my OB, and they decided to admit me to labor and delivery.  Next thing we know, my awesome OB was at the hospital, and they decided to do the C section that night!  They put in IVs, anesthesia asked me lots of questions, and Chad and I kept saying we couldn't believe this was happening!

 We quickly contacted our families and said Micah would be born in like 30 minutes, so they all rushed to the hospital.  They took me to the OR, gave me spinal anesthesia, and started.  It seemed like it took a while, and my blood pressure kept dropping and I felt nauseated several times.  Then, he was there!  Our precious baby was born, and he was perfect!  He screamed as the staff checked him out.  His Apgars were 8 and 9, and they quickly brought him to me for skin to skin time!  It was awesome, I couldn't believe my little man was laying on my chest!  They finally got finished with the C section, and I asked how much blood I lost.  Ha!  It wasn't much, thankfully.  They took me to PACU and took Micah and Chad to see our family.  They brought Micah to try to nurse, but he was too sleepy, so they took him to transition while I recovered.  And shook.  Oh, the shakes!  Finally they stopped, and they brought Micah back to me because his glucose was in the 20s.  I tried to nurse him again, but he wasn't interested, so they gave him formula to get his glucose up.  I was taken to my room after my feeling came back to my lower extremities around 9 pm.  My precious friend Anna stayed with me while Chad left to get a few extra things from home that we forgot.  I was very sick, vomiting many times throughout the night.  My nurse finally got the doctors to order a different pain medicine, so that got better with some time.  They brought Micah back to me around 1 am, and we snuggled all night!  He slept that whole first night, which was great since I was not feeling well, but I kissed him all night long.  My Prince was here!  The next day was better, and we got discharged from the hospital on Tuesday night.  Here are my favorite pictures from the hospital.

We are home and adjusting to our family of four!  Grace had a hard time the first night, but has done a great job of being big sister!  We are blessed beyond what we could hope for.  Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of Micah!  What an amazing gift he is, as he reminds of Your love for us!

Grace is THREE!!!!!

I just thought I wouldn't post again until baby brother was added to the mix, but I forgot about one little minor event in the life of our family - GRACE'S BIRTHDAY!  

We had her birthday party early because I didn't know if we might have two new babies in our family by the time her actual birthday got here (my sister in law was also pregnant at the time).  So we had her party at the end of February.  It was Veggie Tales themed, her favorite.  I kept it simple, and really threw the party like my parents used to throw our birthday parties.  I think it was my favorite birthday party Grace has had.  We filled our home with Veggie Tales stuff and the most precious family and friends we have and celebrated the life of our girl. 

The miracle of these past three years do not escape me.  I have thought a lot about Grace's birth day, and remembered the most scary thoughts I didn't even want to speak.  Thoughts of her being stillborn, or not living long after birth.  And now we've had three years with our little perfect princess.  Wow-what an amazing blessing!  Thank you, Lord, for sustaining her life and the miracles we have witnessed!  I look forward to celebrating the rest of her life, as we give her to You every day.  She is Yours!

Here are the pictures from her party!  

Her new favorite thing to say is "eeeyaaay" (hooray)!

Most of the kids

Checking out her cake

This is yummy!  She ate two pieces and was more into the cake this year than any other birthday.

Bob's at my party?!

Present time

Sweet cousins

The cozy coupe was a favorite toy for the kids to play with

Best buddies

My precious college friends!

My sister and me

My dad wanted a picture with his girls

Add momma

Add the boys

These two precious ladies keep Grace for us - they adore her and we are so thankful for them!

My dad and his brother with their grandgirls

Our precious friends, the Eldridges.  I LOVE that Grace and Walker are both smiling and clapping!

Please pray with us over the next few weeks, as we will meet Micah very soon!  We are praying for a continued complication-free pregnancy, and that Micah will be completely healthy when he is born!  We cannot wait to meet him!!!  I'll be 37 weeks Monday!  :)