Taylor is a girl that runs at life with full speed (sometimes excess speed). She is vivacious when she is in her element and amusingly shy before she warms up. She does not fear risks and only fears daddy’s remote control spider and the “scary cow” she dreams about. We got pregnant with Taylor when we had been married one year. I had a strategically planned schedule of when we would start having kids. I was in a master’s program that was soon to include an internship so we would wait until after the program to start. Or not. Turns out I was pregnant twice during the program. After Wes popped my birth control out of its packet one pill at a time, I realized he was serious and unafraid to add a baby into our unique schedule.
The pregnancy was challenging because of intense morning sickness from 8 weeks until 6 months. The last trimester was awesome and we were so excited to meet our princess.
True to form, Taylor decided we should rush and at 36 weeks she was ready to see the world. She had perfect timing and came on the first day of the only break we had during my master’s program. On Thursday night, I came home from school and we washed all of her baby clothes and packed our bags. The next morning around 5 a.m. my water broke. I wasn’t convinced that it was my water so I went back to sleep until around 8. After talking to my doctor, experiencing some minor contractions and receiving a call from Wes wondering why I was still at home, I headed to the hospital. My dad still makes fun of me for driving myself to the hospital. We checked in and I wasn’t showing any signs of progression, in fact I was barely experiencing any pain. Since my water had broken, we decided to induce labor after a few hours of waiting. I remember it being after noon, but I am told that my sense of time was very off that day. My doctor came to visit and told us to expect the labor to last the rest of the day and that he would come back later in the evening. He hadn’t even left the building before he was called back in because Taylor had a different plan. She dropped very quickly and ended up crushing her cord. Thankfully the NICU was right down the hall and came to re-adjust her so she could get oxygen. At 3:45 in the afternoon Taylor made her debut at 6 lbs, 18.5 in. We were honestly in awe. After all it takes to get pregnant, make it to the end and have a healthy birth, we felt incredibly blessed to have and hold our baby girl.
Yes, Wes’s hand was in a cast after cutting his hand very badly. He ended up losing movement in his middle finger. He was able to do lots of baby holding but was unable to do diaper changes…Lucky!
Although she was very healthy, she was technically premature so we stayed in the hospital an extra day. It was so nice to go home and sleep in our own bed.
It seemed risky to embark on the journey of parenthood when we did. Through the two years that I have gotten to have my Taylor, she has taught me to be spontaneous and embrace change with an open mind and heart. She came at the perfect time. God knew what was best and trusting Him took away my fears. She has left her mark on me and I’m sure she’ll make her mark on the world.
We love you, Taylor, and you’ll always be our baby girl!