newborn pics!

The birth story of Iris Hope

Iris Hope is here!

June 30th 2015

8lbs 19inches

Words cannot express my gratitude to God for an uncomplicated pregnancy + delivery, and a healthy baby girl. This experience has been night and day different from my highly complicated and high risk experience with the girls (in an almost too good to be true sort of way). The Lord unloaded His kindness on us, not because we deserved anything, but just because that is His character.

Birth Story.
Because so much did not go the way I had planned with my my past pregnancy experience, and it was so high intervention and medicalized (which was GOOD, life saving, and necessary for that pregnancy), I had really wanted a low intervention pregnancy and delivery this much healthier go 'round. I was a good candidate for a VBAC (vaginal birth after C section), and decided my chances for a successful VBAC were highest if done naturally. My prayers were for an uncomplicated & safe delivery for me and Iris, a natural VBAC, a chunky baby (as Evangeline & Audrey were 2lbs & 3lbs), annnnd maybe that she would have dark hair :). At 230am, on June 30th, I got out of bed and was feeling Iris move a lot. I started to feel uncomfortable and a little bit of a back ache. By 3am I was in a lot of pain and woke Ryan up. I couldn't distinguish contractions at all, but was in so much pain that I called my doula and told Ryan I thought we needed to go the hospital soon. Both my doula and Ryan kind of raised an eyebrow (as it had been an hour of labor), and suggested I get in the bath and relax, and then go back to bed. HA. I tried the bath and felt like I was gonna die. I told Ryan I needed drugs immediately. I had given up on a natural delivery 1 hour in. By 430am I told Ryan we really needed to leave, so he helped me to the car and drove as fast as he could to the hospital. I couldn't speak or move, I was in so much pain. We pulled up to L & D, and Ryan got me a wheelchair and wheeled me up to my room. Give. me. pain meds. was all I could think. My water broke in the wheelchair as soon as we got in the room, and they helped me to get up on the bed. Before we could even finish admission paper work, and before I could even lay back on the hospital bed, baby Iris made her way out in 3 pushes, 30 minutes after we had arrived. There was no time for pain meds (no time for anything). The entire process was under 3 hours. I was so very thankful that she came so quickly, that in the Lord's kindness, I was, therefore, able to do it naturally, that my C-section scar was completely intact, that there were no complications, that she didn't come out in the car :), that she was a chunky 8lbs, ….annnnd that she has dark hair:).  I am overwhelmed by God's kindness; none of this was in my control. Praise God for all the prayers He chose to answer! Iris means rainbow and we chose it because of what the rainbow represents in Genesis 9: God's grace and faithfulness to His people.

Contrast between the contact I got immediately after birth with Iris (on left) and with the girls (on right).

A few hours after I delivered- on cloud 9.  I was only in the hospital for 24 hours with Iris-- quite the contrast with the 3 months (including ante-partum & NICU) I spent there with the girls.  

proud big sisters!

Thanks a million times over to all of you who were praying for us!