Life with the Bauers: Livi Bea has arrived!!

November 10, 6:30 a.m.- we check in to the hospital to be induced. At this point, we still don't know if our new baby is a boy or girl. We are so excited to meet him or her and I fully expect everything to go very fast. I tell everyone that plans to come to the hospital that the baby should be here well before noon. I mean, this was my fourth baby and the other ones came pretty fast, so this should be the fastest right? Well...things didn't quite progress the way I thought- not much progress with each check in. I had a great nurse who was super kind, so that was great...but I wasn't moving along very fast and my doctor and nurse came in multiple times to prepare me that the baby was having some heart rate issues and if that continued or got worse, there was a chance for a c-section. I was not happy with this news- this was my fourth. It should be a quick and easy delivery. I eventually got my epidural and began to get some relief. Friends and family came in and out and it was fun to see them. At one point, I got sick and then my blood pressure bottomed out so they had to give me medicine to get it back up. Then we were back in business. I mentioned to the nurse a few times that I was still in pain and maybe I needed something for my epidural, but it wasn't too bad so I didn't think much about it. UNTIL the epidural wore off...and right at the height of the pitocin and the height of the pain. That was an experience I had not prepared for...the anesthesiologist was in surgery and wasn't able to come help. I had always thought about doing natural childbirth so I guess I got to experience a bit of what that was like. Wowsers. Well thankfully pretty quickly everyone started rushing around saying it was time for baby to come. Jake let everyone know to come to the hospital, our friend Sarah Denbow walked in to take pictures, Dr Anderson showed up, and the anesthesiologist came in for a quick dose of medicine...it all happened so fast, and then the baby was here!!! It's a GIRL!!! We already knew what her name would be- Livi Bea, which means "bringer of joy and peace". When we were choosing names, Jake felt like the Lord said she was going to bring peace...and joy is a high value for our family so we loved using a name that means joy...so Livi Bea is the perfect name for our fourth baby and third little girl...and she was finally here! When she arrived, she was tangled in the umbilical cord and they had to spend some time getting her unraveled, but finally she was placed in my arms and I was able to see my beautiful, perfect daughter. What a joyous day!! We took pictures with her, got her weighed and checked out by the medical staff, I got to feed her, Jake prayed for her...and then it was time to introduce her to our loved ones! First came the kids. The girls were hoping it was a girl and thought it would be a girl, so I knew they would be thrilled...but I was worried about Ben. He really wanted a brother and honestly I thought he was going to lose it and have a melt down right there in the hospital...so Jake went in to the hall to get them and brought them in to our room so we could introduce them. They were so excited! But the surprising part was that Benton was the most excited of all. My heart was bursting watching his reaction. He was so proud of his little sister, and he was so in love...immediately. It was beautiful. We told them we were going to go get everyone else to tell them the news. We said "don't tell them yet that it's a girl"...and then Ben ran into the hall and yelled "Hey everyone! Come meet my sister LIVI BEA!!!!" He just couldn't contain his excitement. So then everyone came to meet her. It was so fun having our family and our dearest friends celebrate with us. Then came two days in the hospital. I love this time!! We get to rest and be together, just me, Jake, and the baby. We get to have visitors and I have nurses taking care of me and Livi. The kids come by to see us but also get fun grandparent time. My brother, niece, and nephew surprised us and came to meet Livi, which was so fun. This time is just so fun, so peaceful, so full of joy and wonder. We even got to watch an OU football game Saturday night in the hospital- something we don't get to do very often these days! I always tell people how much I love the hospital stay. I'm so grateful for these few days to get rested and prepared to begin life as a family of six!

Laying my eyes on my girl for the first time.