Kalia Erika Ratliff

Hi Everyone! Dan here, since Michelle is resting after a pretty trying day yesterday. Here's the story, in case anyone hasn't heard:

At about 11:30pm on Tuesday night (June 24th) - Michelle said she was going to go lay down on the couch so that she didn't wake me up and so I could sleep one full night. That didn't last very long :)

At about 11:40pm (yep, 10 minutes later) - Michelle comes walking down the hall saying: "Daaannnnn....I don't feel good." Thinking it was just her having stomach pains again, I just told her to sit in the bathroom and wait it out. Turns out it was the real deal.

We called the hospital, told them what was going on and they told us to take a warm bath (sorry...Michelle...not me too :)) - and then to come in after 30 mins if that didn't stop the pain. It helped, but she was still having contractions. So, we knew the real deal was upon us. I raced around the house feeding the cats, locking stuff down and making sure everything was set for us to be gone for a while.

We got to the hospital at 1:30am. They hooked Michelle up and she was still 3cm dialated, and 70% effaced. Not good news since she had been like that for 2-weeks. Since her contractoins were 1 1/2 minutes a part, they felt she was on her way so they admitted us. We got in our room at 2:00am.

From 2:00am to 4:00am was the worst pain Michelle has endured to date...and the worst I've been around. She kept saying: "We're adopting the next one." And: "I just need a break." It was very painful to be so helpless and not to be able to take the pain away. I just tried my best to keep her calm and help with the breathing.

At 4:00am - they finally gave her the epideral. This took away most of the pain and Michelle was finally able to breathe. Michelle did really well during the shot and it didn't seem to hurt her too much. We slept from 4:30am to 6:00am...which turned out to be very helpful for the rest of the day.

At 9:00am, Michelle was 7-8 cm dialated, so they wanted us to start pushing. GREAT! We're almost there!! Turns out that wasn't the case :). Michelle ended up pushing from 9am - noon. That's right, 3-hours. Michelle's blood pressure was continuing to rise and her temperature jumped up to 101.3. The nurses were starting to get concerned.

The doctor came in at noon and asked how long she had been pushing - when we told her 3-hours, her face dropped and she said: "Sorry, I know you don't want to hear these words...but a C-section is in order." She told us that since Michelle's health was starting to get worse, and her water was broken (by the doc) that we needed to get Beanut OUT now. They had a 1:00pm scheduled c-section that they were going to bump for us to get in ASAP. This was one of the scariest moments of my life so far - I have to admit. I'm not a fan of surgeries and for us to now have no choice - it was a tough time. We just looked at each other and said it's what God has planned to bring Beanut into the world - so let's buckle down and get through it.

Michelle was in the O.R. at 12:30pm and they got to work. Everything went VERY smoothly - I tried to take a peak through the window in the drape as I was sitting by Michelle's head. But once I saw them cut her and pull her parts out and sit them on her chest...I checked out. I tried to keep Michelle calm and tell her that the "tugging" she was feeling was all good things. She didn't agree :)

Kalia Erika Ratliff was born at 12:41am (give or take a minute). They pulled her out and as we heard her crying, they held her up to the window that I was trying to avoid looking at. It was at that time that I started balling. Been a while since I've cried (I'm a tough guy, you know) - but it was the most amazing site I've ever seen. There was the this little human being that has been growing in Michelle for 9 months. And she was ours, created by God himself to take care of and raise. I can't even look back and think about how I felt because the moment was just so special that I think I can't recreate it.

They took Kalia to the little table and started doing their tests and she was off. I went back over to Michelle and guess what? She was passed out. I looked down and the doctors were putting her guts back in...tugging, stiching, pushing, pulling, cutting, and there was Michelle...snoring like a little baby herself. I looked at the Anasteasiologiest (sp?) and she just shook her head. It was funny :)

At 1:30pm - Michelle got stiched up, and they wheeled her out, back to our room. As I rounded the corner with Kalia in hand...I looked down the hall and there were Michelle's Parents, My Parents, Michelle's Sister, My Sister and our two nephews - Decker and Judd. They were all standing there watching Michelle roll back in and in good shape and me walking down with their new Grandaughter/Niece/Cousin in hand. They fell in love with her at first sight too. They asked her name (I went in to ask Michelle if I could tell them first) and I told them.

That's the story and we're sticking to it :)

Kalia is the most beautiful little human being I've ever seen (biased, I know, and sorry to everyone else out there - no offense.) Your life changes in a matter of seconds and all of the things you thought were important are automatically shoved down to the bottom of the priority list. God and your child are at the top before you know it and the funny part that I found is that it's okay for it to be that way. Golf, guitars, shopping, work, money, "things", and all of that other material "nonsense" is obsolete.

Pastor Steve came in the room just a few minutes ago and said a prayer with us (and gave Kalia her "First Teddy". He's such a great man and a huge influence in our lives.

Thank you all for your prayers, wishes and thoughts. We're blessed with such a great family, great friends and everything in between. We'll keep you all posted on her developments as the days go on. Now that I have access to the Blog - I'm dangerous :)