Birth and Hospital Experience

I wanted to ake a moment to recount the birth of our sweet girl and the hospital experience before i forget be details.
When we were driving on our way to the the state where the birth was to take place, it was lightly snowing. I took this as a sign from God that everything was going to be okay. We snuggled into our hotel bed knowing this was the last night we were going to get of uninterrupted sleep for awhile. Well, between the horrible, lumpy bed, the noisy heater turning off and on throughout the night, and the butterflies in our stomachs, that sleep was just not happening. Almost comical.
The following morning on our drive to the hospital, it was wet and dark and cloudy. We didn't care about the weather, though, we were just a bundle of nerves, not knowing what to expect or how things would unfold. We arrived in the lobby at 7:00. We were supposed to meet the birthmother and her mom at 7:15 because she was scheduled to be induced at 7:30. Minutes later, they arrived. The sweet birthmother was a lot bigger than she was only weeks ago. How is that even possible? Poor girl, she was stretched to the max. We hugged and then she get directions to the L&D floor, and up we went. The 5th floor. That's where home as we knew it (or didn't know at that point) would be for the next 3 days.
While the birthmother got settled in her L&D room, we got settled in the family waiting room. The BM's mom was very good about keeping us informed, running back and forth between our two rooms to give us updates. However, we didn't have to stay there long, because she informed us that the hospital was giving us a room to stay in ourselves!
The hospital and nursing staff were extremely accommodating to us the entire time. I don't know if they had experienced adoptive families and birth families before, but they were very understanding of our situation and very friendly. They treated us equally, as if we had been the patient(s) as well. We also were able to go visit with our BM as she labored. Since only two other people could be in the room at a time, when it wasn't BM's mom and another family member, it was us! We were able to get to know her better during that time, talking about anything and everything to get her mind occupied. We were able to realize how alike our personalities are and how much we have in common. BM asked us to all be in her room at one point. She had a gift for us. Yes, that's how amazing she is. She had saved up through her pregnancy to buy little things here and there for the baby. Clothes, blankets, hair bow, socks...all perfect. All from her. BM's mom came to our room at one point and handed us an envelope and left. Inside the envelope was a letter she had written to us. 3 pages of why she felt this match was perfect and that she was so happy that we were going to be the parents of this baby. WOW. Tears.
Throughout the day, BM would get checked. She was not progressing, not dilating. Memories of my labor with DD kept flooding back. I did not progress past a certain point with her, either. So...talk of a C-section came up. The doctor had to go visit with some patients at his office until 5:00. If the BM still was not progressing by the time he came back to the hospital after his appointments, he would perform the C-section. BM started to get anxious. We tried our best to comfort her. As the day progressed, the sky gave way to the light snow once again. It was so beautiful watching the snow fall lightly through the windows while we waited as the BM labored.
 Surprisingly, the doctor came back early, around 3:30, and decided to go ahead with the C-section. BM was extremely disappointed and afraid. She had never been through any kind of surgery before and was completely terrified. Her mom, family member, DH and I stood over her in her hospital bed and held hands while we prayed that she would be comforted by God and that the doctor would have the wisdom to perform the surgery without a hitch, that there would not be any complications, and that BM would feel our love and support. Then she was prepped for surgery.