Here comes Elijah!

At 3:00 on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, my husband Brad and I became parents. Whoa. First of all, I never ever expected to be able to say that. Back in 2008 we decided that maybe we'd like to see if we could get pregnant, so I abandoned all forms of prevention, but we never really sat down to plan it out. Soon after that, my doc let me know that I have a condition called PCOS - polycystic ovarian syndrome - something that left us not knowing if I was ovulating at all. We never tried and we never really gave up.

Last October when Brad's sister called to tell us they were having a baby, my heart broke. Well, it sang out in joy for Sara and Josh - it was obvious they'd make fantastic parents - but my heart broke for me and Bradley because I turned to him and said through my tears, "I'll never be able to call anyone and tell them that."

Lo and behold God had a different plan.

When Dr. Giddens held little Eli up in the air in all of his gooey and purpley glory (this was after he immediately popped out and peed on the Dr), what ran through my mind was something like, "oh. my. lord. what in the world did I just do?" They laid him on my chest, but I wouldn't touch him. I rubbed his little head through the blanket he was halfway wrapped in and then in a mighty swoosh Brad cut the cord and the next thing I knew Eli was over on the baby table being cleaned and wrapped up. It was SO fast!

What happened next - I'll never forget. I was somewhat versed in what happens when one gives birth, what happens after giving birth, and still what happens after that. But nothing can really prepare you for what you feel physically and emotionally. I saw Dr. Giddens with a pair of hemostats attached to what looked like metal string. I thought... "awww, man! she had to cut me!" Well, truth be known, the labor and his coming out party happened so fast that I had some pretty rad tears. Fourth degree to be exact. Ouchie. Big Ouchie.

My heart sank when she told me about that. She sewed on me for 30 minutes, but PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE EPIDURAL because I seriously felt nothing except the pressure of an event occurring in my netherlands. I was too preoccupied anyway... I mean, HELLO! This little being who drove me insane living in my uterus for 9 months was laying in the next bed screaming! I watched Bradley. That was sweet. He had the biggest smile on his face and, camera in hand, took some great shots of our little one moments after he was born. Bradley and I got a few seconds to lock eyeballs with one another. There were too many thoughts and emotions running through both of our heads to really nail down how we felt in that moment.

In an instant we went from being "Rachel and Bradley" to being "Eli's parents."