Happy Valentines Day baby

Well, surprise! I'm not sure how much of a "birth story" anybody is looking for around here... the usual details are involved... contractions and such. I will say this... there was so much peace during my delivery. We were joking around with the medical staff throughout the whole thing, and I never felt stressed or fearful... which was grace and a miracle because I definitely could have.
My heart has been through it... when the grace lifted for a brief period yesterday, I grieved deeply that, once again, my body did not my protect my baby. And now she's out here and it's bright and uncomfortable and she is SO little. But man, I fought to get this far. Harder than I ever have. And she's gonna be all right.

She was 2 lbs 12 oz, 16 in long. Her hair is really dark, but they haven't been able to wash it yet so I don't really know what it looks like. She is on a ventilator, but she is trying to breathe around it and they are gradually weaning the amount of breaths the machine is giving her. As long as she is on the vent, we can't hold her. That's really hard. But I will be up there waiting, and hopefully it will just be a few days until she can breathe on her own.

Maybe you are thinking how relieved you are that we will no longer be discussing my cervix in the public forum here. Me too. But now, we will talk about pumping... because I will be pumping breastmilk for her every three hours until she is able to rey ro nurse- which, I have no idea when that might be. Do you think God is teaching me patience? I wish he would quit. Just kidding, mostly.

I don't have a dial-up plan, so I don't know if I'll get internet access at the hospital. I will be working on it. In the meantime, I'll be checking at night and in the morning.

Thanks, my friends. Your prayers have brought us this far.