At Last

At last we got to hold Bella! After nine and a half months of pregnancy(every pregnant woman will be quick to tell you it's nine and one half months, NOT NINE), 20 hours of labor, and two days of anxious and patient staring at her bedside, we finally held our very own baby. They took Bella's ART line out earlier today which allowed us to hold her. We got to cuddle for about an hour, and then since mom, daddy and baby were all falling asleep, we decided to go ahead and put her down and charge our batteries for tonight's bath time. I must admit the little darling is getting a little crusty.

She still has a feeding tube in, but it looks like she is digesting her food, so hopefully she will be taking a bottle soon. She still has to control her breathing, feed well (8 bottles a day), and maintain her temperature before she can come home. They say it's a tall order for any baby, so don't expect her to do too much too soon, but I know that our little Bella can do it.

All I can say is that God is good because I really needed to be able to hold my baby before I left the hospital today or else it wasn't going to be pretty, and guess what, that is exactly what happened! The day of my due date when still no baby had come, my mother said this baby is teaching you patience. Well, I am sure about that, but I am also sure this whole experience is teaching me to trust in the Lord.