Averi’s Birth Story

April 3 | 4 am

My alarm went off, and I still don’t know why I even set my alarm because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. I had a scheduled c-section, and I was freaking out all night because I didn’t want to be in pain. My parents were in town to watch the kiddos and that was the only thing that was calming that morning. I woke up Ahmad and he was anxious! I never saw him get dressed so fast, but he was ready to meet his new baby girl. I took a shower, curled my hair, put on a full face of makeup, and rolled my overpacked suitcase out the house to head to the hospital.

April 3 | 5:30 am

We arrived to the hospital, and I was super pumped. We checked in to labor and delivery, and they put me in my room, and started to prep me for my 7:30 am surgery. My nerves started to get bad because I kept thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong. Ahmad was reading his book, and I just started to scroll on social media to look at how we all pretend our lives are so perfect through social media (but hey, I needed that fake reality for a second). All of a sudden, all of the nurses started running around, and the nurses that were prepping me for surgery rushed out the room and left me. Ahmad and I looked at each other, and then we heard a loud scream. Someone was in labor, and come to find out she was 27 weeks pregnant, fully dilated, and pushing out twins. It was an emergency, and her emergency gave me about an extra hour to relax and calm down about my situation.

April 3 | 7am

Finally the nurses came back and started to prep me for my c-section, and tears started to roll down my face. I was literally freaking out… surgery scares me! Ahmad kept telling me everything was going to be ok, the nurses and doctor told me that they do this a million times a day so there was nothing to worry about; meanwhile I’m the one that is going to be cut on, and having a baby. Of course its all of their job and duty to make sure I’m calm, but reality is I wasn’t really wanting to hear any of their encouragement.

The nurse then escorts Ahmad and I to the operating room, and my heart was beating so fast. There was a part of me that was scared because of the issues I had previously. Earlier during my pregnancy there could have been a chance that Averi could have some medical issues when she was born, the doctors assured me she wouldn’t because we passed all of the testing and labs; but that thought still lingered in my head. I was praying so hard, and I hate the fact that they didn’t let Ahmad come in the room with me until they had did the epidural and made sure the medicine was working. I wanted him there to hold my hand and keep me calm, but thank heavens for prayer because Jesus was definitely on the main line.

April 3 | 7:30 am

The epidural was in, and my doctor asked me one last time if I was sure I wanted to tie my tubes. I told her if I have to come back to her office in the future because I was pregnant, it was going to be ME & HER. She giggled and laughed, but this momma was serious! Ahmad and I had a lot of personal dialogue about the decision, and I will admit it wasn’t an easy one for me at first. I then had to put my health and the fact that I need to be here for my other three children, and I don’t think I could mentally go through being pregnant again. The whole situation with Averi really scared me, and lets be realistic here, can we really afford 4 kids?

Ok…back to the subject at hand…

Ahmad was finally able to come in the operating room with me, and I remember the nurses kept asking if I could feel any pain. My legs were supposed to be tingling at this point, and they weren’t. They then gave me more meds and then I felt numb from the waist down. Now, if  you have never had a C-section don’t let me be the one to scare  you, but I have to tell the truth. Well, at least from my personal experience you don’t feel pain, but you do feel uncomfortable. You can feel all of the movement (of whatever body parts they are moving around down there) and at one point I screamed because I could feel when they lifted my stomach up. That’s when they once again gave me more meds, and I started to feel a little out of it. I had sharp pains running through my hips, and they said that was normal, but I don’t remember that feeling from when I had Aubri. I was in surgery for about 45 min, and then I heard a cry!

My heart melted just from her sweet cry (she was screaming bloody murder, but I’m trying make it seem sweeter lol). Ahmad rushed out the room with Averi to watch them clean her up while I waited patiently to see her. Is it weird that I wanted to smell her? There is nothing like a newborn smell. They are so tiny and cuddly, I love the whole skin to skin feeling. When I say that God is good and you can always see how amazing he is when you have a baby and you see the life that you created.

Ahmad and I are just so grateful that she is healthy! Months ago the doctor told us that she could be born with down syndrome or other medical issues, and when the nurses told me she was a healthy baby girl with no medical concerns I couldn’t do anything but thank God! She is perfect, and her dimples are just the cutest thing ever! She looks just like Aubri when she was born (read Aubri birth story here), and now I have two girls. I have no idea what Ahmad is going to do with all of us shopping girls in the house! 

Averi,

You are perfect! As scared as I was going into labor and surgery with you, it was all worth it. From your dimples, to your tiny toes, you are everything that mommy could have ever dreamed of. I thank God for blessing me with you, and letting me have the honor of being your mom. I love you more than you can ever imagine, and you have stolen my heart.

Love,

Mom