Our Polar Vortex Princess

The last time I posted, we were awaiting your arrival. We thought we'd be waiting for at least another month, maybe even 2 since you weren't due until March 2. We were prepared for you to come a little early....maybe in February. We were not prepared for the phone call we received at 5:40am on Weds January 8, 2014. My cell phone rang, startling both me and Daddy. I quickly answered it only to hear Ashley's mom introduce herself and then frantically say "Oh my God! The baby came! The baby came!" Knowing that this was 8 weeks early and hearing your birth grandmother's voice, I became desperate for more information, worried of what she might say next. She went on to say that you were born outside. This was in the middle of a frigid storm recently labeled the Polar Vortex. I knew that temps were in the single digits with wind chills way below zero. I was scared. What did this mean? So I asked Kim, "Is the baby alive?" FINALLY, she gave me confirmation that you were alive...and breathing on your own and according to the paramedics, doing really well. Ashley was ok too. How relieved I was. But still, we knew that you were very early and we still didn't know exactly what that meant, how your health was, what Ashley wanted, etc. You were just born less than 10 minutes before Kim called. That was a good sign that Ashley was still committed to placing. Kim then told us that Ashley wanted us to go to the hospital to be with you. But the thruway to Buffalo was closed still, and we had to make arrangements for the boys. After getting off the phone with Kim, I called Nana and woke her up. I was in shock, not really knowing what to do. Daddy and I made a plan. Luckily, Mommy is prepared and had already packed to-go bags for the hospital, for you, for Ashley and for us in case we needed to stay overnight. So we took the boys to school and daycare and headed towards Buffalo, not knowing what hospital you would end up at. Both you and Ashley were initially brought the Mt. St. Mary's near Niagara Falls, NY.

But since that hospital doesn't have a NICU, you had to be transferred to Children's Hospital in Buffalo. Ashley's sister snapped a pic of you waiting to be transported and texted it to us. It was the first time we saw you, our beautiful daughter! We couldn't wait to see you in person, to see for ourselves how you were doing, and to pour our love onto you!

The drive to Children's Hospital took awhile due to the weather, but we found out we arrived just as you were getting settled. But we couldn't see you yet. We had to wait for all of the proper paperwork to be received giving us permission to see you. So we got our ID's, waited in the cafeteria, and prayed that you were okay and that we could see for ourselves soon. I am not sure how long we actually waited down there, it seemed like forever. But I think it was about 45 minutes. Then we got the "ok" to go up to you. I held onto the stuffed animals for you and Ashley. We were so nervous, so excited, so scared but already so in love. And there you were...so tiny, so sweet, so much hair! You were connected to monitors and IVs but breathing all on your own. So perfect! We surrounded you with your lovies and stuffed animals and as soon as we got permission to take your picture, we did.