Once Upon A Time....

This is Caitlin as we arrived at the hospital

A Mother~Daughter Moment

Right After The Delivery

Introducing Leah Caitlin Bliss Trosper

"WEEEEEEEEEE" Apparently, Leah Enjoyed The Ride Too!

The Happy Mother With Her New Baby, Leah.

Caitlin looked great for having just delivered a 6 lb 3 oz baby girl!

Proud Papa

Oma and Opa (Caitlin's Parents) With Baby Leah

She Loves Her Cell Phone

Mama Feeding Baby For The First Time

Caitlin, Robert and Leah

Beautiful Baby

I Got To Wash The Baby For The First Time

She Is Absolutely Perfect

Caitlin and Little Caitlin

Leah asleep on Dad's shoulder
This photo was taken immediately after Caitlin placed Leah in our arms.

Sarah and Leah in her Squirrel Bunting that Sarah's Aunt Kate made for her

We are somewhat settled, so I thought I would document the birth of our precious little Leah. Sarah has already joked that I will go overboard on the blog posts about Leah. She suggested I title this blog, Leah's life ~ Day 1. That may scare everyone away.

October 15th on my way home from work at 5:15 p.m., I got a call from Caitlin's mother, Nancy, stating that they were on their way to the hospital! It was time! I almost pulled over to throw up, I was so nervous. Caitlin had a doctor's appointment at 5 p.m. The doctor immediately sent her to the hospital as she was dilated to a 4. I called Sarah as soon as I found out. Sarah sounded panicked as well. We gathered ourselves and headed to the hospital in Murray. By the time we arrived (approximately 6 p.m.) Caitlin was getting an epidural and she had was now dilated to a 6.

We visited for a while and tried to comfort Caitlin as best as we could. She was a bit frightened of the unknown, but once the epidural started to take effect, she was a bit more at peace. We enjoyed chatting with Caitlin and her family as we always do. Nancy and Tom gave us a few presents for baby Caleb; a USC Binky and clip, 2 USC bottles and 2 USC sippy cups. We thought it was so cool that they know us well enough to find us a gift that was personal. Also visiting Caitlin was Robert, a friend of the family. After visiting for a short while, Caitlin was dilated to a 10 and it was time to push. This was at 7:50 p.m. Myself, Tom (Caitlin's Father) and Robert exited the room, while Sarah and Nancy stayed. Caitlin had asked Sarah to be in the delivery room during the delivery. Sarah was very grateful for the opportunity.

At 8 p.m. the nurses asked Caitlin to stop pushing because the baby had crowned, but the doctor had not yet arrived. At 8:15 p.m. Dr. Epstein arrived and Caitlin proceeded to push. The baby was born at 8:27 p.m. Of course, I was not in the delivery room. I was just outside the door talking with Tom, but this is the dialogue of several observers during the birth.

Baby: WAAAAHHHH!!!!

Q: Did I just hear a baby's cry?

Tom: I think you did.

Nancy: It's a Girl?!

Q: Did I hear it's a girl?

Tom: I think you did.

Sarah: What?!

Dr.: A Girl?!

Sarah: What?!

Dr.: I haven't been wrong in two years!

Sarah: What?!

We were all so happy, yet totally taken off guard! I immediately called my Mother, who of course did not believe me. (I don't blame her as I have played several jokes on her in the past). She of course cried and expressed her happiness. I then called Sarah's Mother, and that conversation was almost identical as the first! Why doesn't anyone believe me?! Next, I called my D.O.D. The conversation went something like this.

Dad (answering the phone): Am I a Grandpa yet?

Me: Yep! But there is a little twist! He is a She!

Dad: What time was he born?

Me: 8:27, but did you hear me there was a twist?!

Dad: 8:27? That is great!

Me: Dad, did you hear me that HE IS A SHE?!

Dad: There is nothing wrong with that! If she was born at 8:27, than that means I beat your mother on our guesses at her birth time!

Me: Okay?!

Of course, Sarah broke down and cried the minute the baby was born. Nancy interpreted this as disappointment that the baby was a girl and not a boy. This definitely is not the case. Neither of us ever had any strong preferences regarding the sex of the baby. After a few minutes, they brought Tom and I back into the delivery room. I first saw that the baby was healthy and energetic. My immediate thoughts were for Caitlin. I hoped she was not in pain, physical or emotional. I looked at Caitlin and immediately knew she was okay...as a matter of fact, she was smiling and already on her cell phone!!! I found Sarah quickly and gave her a huge congratulatory hug and kiss. She was soooo happy and excited for our new little one as well as the final twist to the journey.

Nancy asked if we had a name; all the while assuming we did not. Actually, Sarah had always liked the name Leah Bliss Trosper. (Leah is pronounced Lee-Ah). I mentioned to Nancy, that Sarah had always liked this name. Sarah immediately added that she wanted to add the name Caitlin in honor of Leah's Mother. I immediately thought that was appropriate and told Sarah so. We asked Caitlin if she was okay with that and she agreed. It is such a small token of how much we appreciate Caitlin. Of course, it need not be said that the entire night was filled with emotion and tears. Lots and Lots of tears!!!

What a journey this has been over the last four and a half years! It has been quite the roller coaster ride from start to finish with every loop and turn in between. From the infertility to the medical help, to the first and last awful experience with our initial case worker at LDSFS, to our first and good experience with our final case worker at LDSFS, to Nicole, to Nicole's disappearance, to Caitlin and finally to Leah. Over the last four and a half years I have been told time and time again that things happen the way they do for a reason, that Heavenly Father has a plan that sometimes we don't understand, that the "right" baby would eventually end up in our arms, and that when it finally happened it would all be worth while. These were very nice statements made by very nice people who were simply trying to comfort us because they cared about us. Unfortunately, those comments alone were not enough at the time. Now that we have our beautiful little girl, each of those statements are true. Things do happen for a reason and sometimes we don't understand the plans of our Heavenly Father. Leah is definitely the "right" baby for us. We love her so much and we can not even comprehend another baby in her place. Finally, now that she is in our arms, I can say it has totally been worth it....the entire experience, from beginning to end. She is awesome and I wouldn't have wanted this experience to end in any other way. Luckily, this is not the end...it is only the beginning! I look forward to the rest of the ride!

Here are a few photos of one of the most exciting days of my life. I am blogging from the Mac and I haven't managed to learn how to cut and past the photos yet, so I simply posted them at the top.