Every year on her birthday, we snuggle up with Faith and tell her about the day she was born. This year, I decided to also write it down...definitely a day I NEVER want to forget. One of the BEST days of my life. Actually, I think I'll start at the beginning...when we found out we were expecting her.
Joe and I had been badly wanting to have a baby, after having had a miscarriage at the end of May. July 27th 2003 we were going to go to Jazz in the Valley with our friends Steve and Natalie Joyce. Since wine tasting was to be involved, I decided I should take a pregnancy test just to be sure it was safe to drink. The first test immediately showed "pregnant." As did the second, third and fourth test (just a bit OCD there). I was so excited and could hardly wait to tell Joe. I wrapped up one of the test and gave it to him when he got home from work. After a brief questioning of if I was sure and me pulling the other three test from behind my back, he broke into the biggest grin I have ever seen, picked me up and twirled me around the living room. Pure bliss. The due date of our baby was to be April 1st!
Being apprehensive about having had a miscarriage, we decided to wait to tell people until we were through the first trimester. Talk about a tough secret to keep...especially considering how terribly ill I was feeling. Between the Ellensburg summer heat with no air conditioning, certain smells (coffee, chocolate, cigarette smoke, meat, etc.) and constant nausea I was in BAD shape.
Both of our families came to town for the Ellensburg Rodeo. After the ever exciting (sarcasm) Rodeo parade we all came back to our house to have lunch and see Joe's latest fishing video that he was so proud of. To every ones surprise, the video was actually of our first ultrasound!!! I will never forget watching everyone try to figure it out.
Grandma Beth: "What is it? What is it?"
Grandpa Rick: "It's some kind of fish."
Grandma Beth: "What is it?"
Grandma Valerie "Oh! I know what it is! I know what it is!"
So fun to hear and see them all react like this. What a great day and just one of many to come leading up to Faith's birth.
We decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby. We just wanted the ultimate thrill of surprise at the end. So glad we did. Throughout our 10 months of pregnancy it was so fun to think, wonder and dream about the baby, come up with lists of boy and girl names, shop for special things for the baby, etc.
The months past very quickly, the nausea soon left and was replaced by common pregnancy aches and pains...you know stretching ligaments, sciatica nerve, low baby, etc. At the time, I was teaching 4th grade on the second story of Red Rock Elementary in Royal City. By the end, climbing the stairs 20 plus times a day was painful and something I dreaded dearly.
April 1st came and went. The spring was beautiful that year in Ellensburg. Joe and I, and anyone else I could recruit, spent hours each day walking trying to induce labor to no avail. Baby Rotter just wasn't coming out. The phone was ringing off the hook, with well-meaning family members and friends curious if we'd a)had the baby or b) felt anything. Yep...had the baby. Just figured we'd let everyone know later...????
HERE'S WHERE WE BEGIN WITH THE STORY WE SHARE WITH FAITH:
Daddy and Mommy had been enjoying the beautiful, warm, non windy (yes it does happen) spring weather in Ellensburg. We'd been spending DAYS walking around and patiently waiting for the new baby to be born. We were both so excited to meet our new baby, find out if the baby was a boy or a girl, and see what our little one would look like.
April 7th was much the same as the previous 10 days. We took a nice long walk all over town, visited D & M coffee and Fred Meyer. We then decided to take advantage of the great sunshine and head down to the river for a bit. Daddy threw a few casts into the river and caught some nice fish, while mommy read a book in the warm car. Mommy sat in the little green Toyota Tercel with her feet up on the dash reading and enjoying feeling the baby move around. On the way home from fishing, mommy and daddy decided to get some McDonald's for a late lunch/early dinner before going to see Dr. Larson at 5:30pm.
Dr. Larson listened to the baby's heart beat (leave out the rest of the details for Faith's sake) and then announced, "It's time to have a baby. Head on over to the hospital." (No I was NOT dilated or ANYTHING, but I had NOT slept more than a total of 4 hours combined the past 5 nights and he had pity on me. I truly had not complained at all, but I think seeing me 7 days overdue was more than the poor man could handle). On the way to the hospital, we called everyone we knew to tell them that baby Rotter would soon be there.
A few hours later, at 12:45am on April 8th, Baby Faith Elizabeth Rotter came into the world. She weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. She had the most beautiful big, brown eyes and lots of dark hair. She was perfect in every way and Mommy and Daddy were so thrilled to finally meet their baby. Mommy and Daddy began to call family members (yes...in the middle of the night) and tell them the exciting news. Grandma Beth and Auntie Sarah were staying at our house. Daddy called and told them it was time to come to the hospital (he didn't give them any other details or even say the baby had arrived). When they got there, Grandma said, "Oh! What is it?" Daddy said, "It's a Baby!"
Faith's favorite part of the story is the last sentences up there. That and the part that she was originally named Sydney (for about a 1/2 hour), but we decided to change her name to Faith. The part I left out/leave out for Faith, was that there were a few "scary" (for us anyways) parts during labor. I was induced and my body reacted terribly to the cervadel (spelling). Once administered it's supposed to take many hours before contractions start. My contractions began very intensely within 10 minutes and were right on top of another. Having been told that contractions/labor wouldn't start until early the next day (5-6am) I was in total shock that the "unlabor" caused this much pain. I swore this would be my only child (which it wasn't) numerous times to both Joe and my sister Sarah (who I later told had to leave...yes, I was a real peach). Even with all of the contractions I wasn't progressing. The baby's heart rate was drastically going from over 200 to not even being seen on the monitor. I was flipped and flopped, etc. Joe and I began to panic when numerous hospital staff began coming into our room. Baby was in distress, but I wasn't progressing. Our wonderful doctor was actually on the phone attempting to get both the epidural guy and a c-section team to the hospital, when he was able to turn the baby a bit of a different angle. In about 15 minutes I dilated from a 2 to a 10 and had a baby. Leaving out a few of the other "not so pleasant" details...we just thought Faith was a more fitting name...faith definitely helped us through.
Joe and I had been badly wanting to have a baby, after having had a miscarriage at the end of May. July 27th 2003 we were going to go to Jazz in the Valley with our friends Steve and Natalie Joyce. Since wine tasting was to be involved, I decided I should take a pregnancy test just to be sure it was safe to drink. The first test immediately showed "pregnant." As did the second, third and fourth test (just a bit OCD there). I was so excited and could hardly wait to tell Joe. I wrapped up one of the test and gave it to him when he got home from work. After a brief questioning of if I was sure and me pulling the other three test from behind my back, he broke into the biggest grin I have ever seen, picked me up and twirled me around the living room. Pure bliss. The due date of our baby was to be April 1st!
Being apprehensive about having had a miscarriage, we decided to wait to tell people until we were through the first trimester. Talk about a tough secret to keep...especially considering how terribly ill I was feeling. Between the Ellensburg summer heat with no air conditioning, certain smells (coffee, chocolate, cigarette smoke, meat, etc.) and constant nausea I was in BAD shape.
Both of our families came to town for the Ellensburg Rodeo. After the ever exciting (sarcasm) Rodeo parade we all came back to our house to have lunch and see Joe's latest fishing video that he was so proud of. To every ones surprise, the video was actually of our first ultrasound!!! I will never forget watching everyone try to figure it out.
Grandma Beth: "What is it? What is it?"
Grandpa Rick: "It's some kind of fish."
Grandma Beth: "What is it?"
Grandma Valerie "Oh! I know what it is! I know what it is!"
So fun to hear and see them all react like this. What a great day and just one of many to come leading up to Faith's birth.
We decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby. We just wanted the ultimate thrill of surprise at the end. So glad we did. Throughout our 10 months of pregnancy it was so fun to think, wonder and dream about the baby, come up with lists of boy and girl names, shop for special things for the baby, etc.
The months past very quickly, the nausea soon left and was replaced by common pregnancy aches and pains...you know stretching ligaments, sciatica nerve, low baby, etc. At the time, I was teaching 4th grade on the second story of Red Rock Elementary in Royal City. By the end, climbing the stairs 20 plus times a day was painful and something I dreaded dearly.
April 1st came and went. The spring was beautiful that year in Ellensburg. Joe and I, and anyone else I could recruit, spent hours each day walking trying to induce labor to no avail. Baby Rotter just wasn't coming out. The phone was ringing off the hook, with well-meaning family members and friends curious if we'd a)had the baby or b) felt anything. Yep...had the baby. Just figured we'd let everyone know later...????
HERE'S WHERE WE BEGIN WITH THE STORY WE SHARE WITH FAITH:
Daddy and Mommy had been enjoying the beautiful, warm, non windy (yes it does happen) spring weather in Ellensburg. We'd been spending DAYS walking around and patiently waiting for the new baby to be born. We were both so excited to meet our new baby, find out if the baby was a boy or a girl, and see what our little one would look like.
April 7th was much the same as the previous 10 days. We took a nice long walk all over town, visited D & M coffee and Fred Meyer. We then decided to take advantage of the great sunshine and head down to the river for a bit. Daddy threw a few casts into the river and caught some nice fish, while mommy read a book in the warm car. Mommy sat in the little green Toyota Tercel with her feet up on the dash reading and enjoying feeling the baby move around. On the way home from fishing, mommy and daddy decided to get some McDonald's for a late lunch/early dinner before going to see Dr. Larson at 5:30pm.
Dr. Larson listened to the baby's heart beat (leave out the rest of the details for Faith's sake) and then announced, "It's time to have a baby. Head on over to the hospital." (No I was NOT dilated or ANYTHING, but I had NOT slept more than a total of 4 hours combined the past 5 nights and he had pity on me. I truly had not complained at all, but I think seeing me 7 days overdue was more than the poor man could handle). On the way to the hospital, we called everyone we knew to tell them that baby Rotter would soon be there.
A few hours later, at 12:45am on April 8th, Baby Faith Elizabeth Rotter came into the world. She weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. She had the most beautiful big, brown eyes and lots of dark hair. She was perfect in every way and Mommy and Daddy were so thrilled to finally meet their baby. Mommy and Daddy began to call family members (yes...in the middle of the night) and tell them the exciting news. Grandma Beth and Auntie Sarah were staying at our house. Daddy called and told them it was time to come to the hospital (he didn't give them any other details or even say the baby had arrived). When they got there, Grandma said, "Oh! What is it?" Daddy said, "It's a Baby!"
Faith's favorite part of the story is the last sentences up there. That and the part that she was originally named Sydney (for about a 1/2 hour), but we decided to change her name to Faith. The part I left out/leave out for Faith, was that there were a few "scary" (for us anyways) parts during labor. I was induced and my body reacted terribly to the cervadel (spelling). Once administered it's supposed to take many hours before contractions start. My contractions began very intensely within 10 minutes and were right on top of another. Having been told that contractions/labor wouldn't start until early the next day (5-6am) I was in total shock that the "unlabor" caused this much pain. I swore this would be my only child (which it wasn't) numerous times to both Joe and my sister Sarah (who I later told had to leave...yes, I was a real peach). Even with all of the contractions I wasn't progressing. The baby's heart rate was drastically going from over 200 to not even being seen on the monitor. I was flipped and flopped, etc. Joe and I began to panic when numerous hospital staff began coming into our room. Baby was in distress, but I wasn't progressing. Our wonderful doctor was actually on the phone attempting to get both the epidural guy and a c-section team to the hospital, when he was able to turn the baby a bit of a different angle. In about 15 minutes I dilated from a 2 to a 10 and had a baby. Leaving out a few of the other "not so pleasant" details...we just thought Faith was a more fitting name...faith definitely helped us through.
3 comments:
Kelly,
I love your story and think it is so sweet that you share it with Faith every year...what a great tradition! :)
What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing and I am so glad I found your blog! I ran into Amber and she told me about it...I love to blog stalk so this will be in my favorites now!
I can remember the day she was born. What a beautiful girl she was! Faith is the perfect name for her! We love you "friend!"
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