Abigail's Arrival!

My husband and I were high school sweethearts. We got married January 2007 and he joined the US Army a month later. We never got to experience the honeymoon stages or anything. He was gone for basic training in South Carolina for about 3 months and then he had AIT training in Arizona for a few more months. The Army finally sent us to upstate New York in September for our first duty station. We got pregnant soon after we moved there. We were both so excited.... my husband was scared to death. I had 4 months of BRUTAL morning sickness... I think purchasing the "What to expect when your expecting" was the worse thing I could have done... lol it seemed like I was experiencing everything that I had read before. When we found out we were going to have a girl, I was thrilled and just surprised... there is only 1 girl on my husband's side of the family and that's his brother's daughter. My mom gave me a baby shower back in Houston Texas (where I'm from). The pregnancy went very smoothly... no problems besides the fact that I wasn't drinking enough water. I think I went to the hospital 3 times because I got dehydrated. One of those times I ended up in an ambulance. Finally, I went into labor August 8, 2008 around 10pm. I was writing down all the contractions I was having... the time it started and ended, ect. I stayed up all night in pain... around 4am, they finally got close enough. I called the hospital and told them I would be on my way. I had to drag my husband out of bed.... I'm surprised he didn't fall asleep behind the wheel. When we got to our room, I put on my gown and as soon as I layed down, my water broke. Perfect timing! Contractions started picking up.... and of course my husband was passed out on the chair/bed next to me. Each contraction I had, I reached over and twisted his arm. He needed to be awake for his... or in some kind of pain for SLEEPING! They gave me an epidural and I was in complete relief. I wasn't a big fan of feeling completely numb in my legs, but it was well worth it. Finally around 4pm, I was completely dilated and my doctor pretty much told me, "When you feel like you need to take a big dump, let me know!" Hmm.. ooookay then. Well 20 mins went by (if that) and I was feeling some pressure. Doctor came in and we got the pushing started. I remember feeling really embarrassed and awkward. There were 2 doctors and 2 nurses in my room... I dont even remember pushing for that long. Maybe for 20 minutes. They had to cut me, and soon after that, she was born! They layed her on my chest. I was bawling... my husband was taking pictures and calling my mom. I was on the phone with her as my daughter was still on my chest. They cleaned her up and gave her to me. I fed her, or tried to anyway. I remember looking at her and just thinking how beautiful she was and how much I loved her already. Even after 2 years, she's the joy in my life and there's nothing that I wouldn't do for her. After a year long deployment with not seeing my husband, she's kept me on my toes and made the year go by so much more quicker. I love my little princess!