Tender Mercies

I am overflowing with thanks for all that has gone fantastically well since Sydney came to our family. I don't know how to give adequate thanks to my family and friends and most of all, my Heavenly Father. But I'm gonna try. The following is just a bit of why I'm so thankful:

Jericho's deployment being delayed a few days.

Phone call from Jericho's army people telling him that his flight would be on Monday instead of Saturday.

My doctor inducing me a week early.

The Cervadil on Thursday night putting me in labor instead of just prepping me for induction the next day making my labor get started earlier than expected.

Jason, my labor and delivery nurse. He laughed at my jokes during all my awkward hospital moments.

McDonald's mixed berry smoothie, my first post-delivery food.

Jericho and I not being too big to lay in my hospital bed together and talk and hold hands and look at our new little baby.

Swallowing my superhero pride and getting an epidural.

Getting a little pride back when I realized my epidural was nearly gone when it came down to the wire and the really rough stuff.

Only having to push for 25 minutes [even though it felt like hours].

Completely forgetting all of my crazed mom worries [i.e. birth defects or she was actually a boy].

Jericho holding my hand for the hours when I had no pain meds.

Seeing Jericho cry when Sydney was born and holding her for the first time.

My baby being a noisy sleeper. I rarely worry that she's stopped breathing because she tends to snore. Whoever heard of a 3 week old snoring?

Recognizing right away that my hormones were out of whack to the point where outside attention was absolutely necessary.

Zoloft [I love you]. And its side effect of insomnia so my fatigue during the day is almost nonexistent.

My pediatrician reassuring me that formula feeding was perfectly fine.

My pediatrician reassuring me that my baby would be fine if I gave her a pacifier before 4 weeks of age.

Physically recovering faster than I expected.

Dropping baby weight faster than I expected.

My mother taking night feeding duty for the first week.

Sydney looks more like Jericho. It makes it easy to always think of him every time I look at her beautiful face.

My loving family driving an hour to my house to hang out with me.

My mom, my mom, my mom, my mom

Parents living close and happily opening their house to Sydney and me.

Sydney being a low maintenance baby.

Realizing I do, in fact, have hidden superpowers. 

Friends anxious to visit me. Friends texting, emailing, calling me with words of encouragement and support and keeping me company.

...and [they] did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them. 

Ether 6:12