And then there were four...

It's been 3 weeks since our sweet little girl was born. I am finally feeling normal again after my tubal ligation, and am eagerly looking forward to the 3 day weekend my husband is getting. I just wanted post a few details about Ayslyn's birth and some thoughts.

My husband was in the field at 29 Palms for training when I had my 36 wk appointment. He had just gotten there on Saturday. He called after the appointment to see how things were going, and I broke the news to him that I was starting to efface and dialate. He decided to try to come home, and after talking to his chain of command, they said they would get him home the next afternoon on Tuesday. The husband was questioned about his integrity when he returned home. There was question that he was just trying to get out of the field. This made me furious, and would it not have reflected badly on him, I would have waddled in and told the men questioning him what was what.

I was 36 weeks and 4 days when I went into labor. My contractions started at 3:30 in the afternoon and were consistently a minute apart and a minute long from the get-go. We got to the hospital at 5:30 pm, and the nurse who checked my cervix had to do a double take! I was 7 cm, and I was still walking and acting normally. I did get an epidural. I had planned on trying to do the labor without drugs, but when my doctor said she was going to break my water, I decided to get numbed up. Jerry was amazing the entire time, and gallantly held my hand and snuck me gulps of water out of the water bottle I smuggled in. I am not a fan of ice chips. At 10:47 pm, aboard Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital, our daughter Ayslyn Mae was born. She weighed 6 lbs and 3 oz and was 17.5 inches of perfection. In spite of being so early, she was healthy and didn't have any complications. She was born on St. Barbara's Day, a Thursday. The rest of the guys J was in the field with came home the next night.

The next day, in the afternoon, I had surgery for a tubal ligation. We are so pleased with our family, and love our two kids. We can't wait for the coming years with them. This was the killer part of the whole experience. Recovering from my tubal was horrible. I am happy to have it done, and happy to not have to worry about birth control in the future, but it was rough! I felt horrible and in pain for the first week and a half. I was even worried about running out of the percocet they had given me for pain killers, and I normally try to muscle through the discomfort instead of popping pills.

The husband got 10 days of paternity leave, and he was amazing. He completely took care of Zach so my body could get to recovering. The man is my hero, and I can safely say that I've fallen even more in love with him through this experience. I wish he had been able to experience our son's birth instead of being in Iraq, but I am grateful that he was there to welcome our daughter into the world.