Railey Anne Billman

  So at 1:00 this morning, I had a dream I was on a very intensive hike.  It was so hard that I was breathing heavy and my lower back was killing me.  Then I realized "WOW this is so not a dream!"  My lower back was killing me and I could hardly breath.  Yep! you guessed it, LABOR!  I was worried I was just being over dramatic, so I tried to go back to sleep. I was only 36weeks so there is no way I could be in labor. But sleep was out of the question, so I tried to walk around to get the baby moved to a different position.  That wasn't working.  So I decided to time the contraction, but deep down knowing there was no way I was in labor.  After about 30 min and 6 hard contractions, I decided I should probably pack my hospital bag.  While doing that I kept having the contractions, so I decided its time to wake up Devin.  *Tap Tap* "Devin, I think we need to go to the hospital, I'm in labor!"  And having the husband I do the only response I got was......."I'm sorry!"  WHAT!?!?!?!  Are you kidding me!?!?  But at the time, I was like you're right I'm not going into labor I will wait a little bit.  So i sat in the living room and again timed every contraction.  After about another hour of pain, confusion, and anxiety, I decided ok I'm going to the hospital.  So I woke up Devin one more time.  "Devin I am having major lower back pain *hard to breath, hard to talk* and the contractions are coming every 5 to 7 min. I think we should go to the hospital."  That got him alert enough to get out of bed.  We decided to wait another hour just to be on the safe side.  We didn't want to wake Paislyn in the middle of the night for nothing.  Well after the hour I decided yeah this feels like labor.  So we grabbed our bags and headed for the hospital.  Once there they tested to make sure it was real labor and we were on our way to welcoming our beautiful little girl into the world.  Around 9 they started the Pit and at 9:30 they broke my water!  Yay, baby number 2 is on her way.  Labor was.......well labor, and at 12:26 we welcomed baby Railey into our home.
 What a strong little girl we have.  She has been through a lot today and she is still fighting.  Once they cleaned her up she was put on oxygen because her breathing wasn't looking good.  First they said we will do this and see if she is breathing fine on her own.  Then they said they would take her to the nursery to do it one more time and help her get stabilized.  Devin and the nurse come back from the nursery, a little while later, with the kind of news you never expect to hear "Flight for life."
   My heart sank.  How can this little angel of 6lbs 13 oz handle this kind of stress.  She is so tiny and so fragile, she can't do it.  I can't do it.  Devin calmed me down and explained that she is doing really good they just have to help her lungs work a little bit better before they take her off oxygen.  They needed to fly her to a hospital not to far from Riverton who can do these kind of procedures.  She was going to have to have some kind of substance inserted into her lungs, one that we all produce naturally.  Railey was just a little to young and had not developed that quite yet.  Her blood sugar and blood pressure were a little out of wack as well, so steps were taken to help get her to the norm.  But other then that she is doing great.
   So my next question are they going to bring her back here after they do the procedure?  Oh no.....no they keep her at the other hospital until they thing she is well enough to go home.  So not only do we not get to hold our little bundle of joy but we have to be in separate hospitals, separate cities.  At this point Devin and I are both emotionally drained and in desperate need of sleep and cuddle time with Railey.  So around 4:30 they get her ready to go for her first ever helicopter ride.  They brought her into the room before they left so I could say my goodbyes.  I have never felt so helpless in all my life.  This little body hooked up to every machine possible, wires and tubes every which way.  I wanted to hug her, to kiss her, to cuddle her into a comforting sleep, but all I could do was hold her hand and pray she would be ok.  Devin gave her the most beautiful blessing, that comforted us all.  And then she was off on her first helicopter ride.
  I know our Father in Heaven loves her more then I could ever imagine.  I know that he is there with her, telling her to keep strong and to keep fighting.  And even though I can't be there to hold her and kiss her, the Lords is surrounding her with love and comfort.  I know she is going to come out of this strong and ready for anything.  But right now it is very hard for me to look past the fact that I don't have my little girl here.  I haven't been able to even count her fingers and toes.  I haven't been able to guess who she looks like Devin or me.  I will get to see her tomorrow after I am released and I'm counting down the hours until i get to see her.
  I wanted to write all of this down today, because I know in the next few days, things will get busy and hectic having a newborn around.  I didn't want to forget our little miracle and her story of strength and determination.

  I already know she is going to be our little fighter.  I know things could have been a lot worse, and I feel so blessed that she is getting the care that she needs.  I'm so grateful for prayer and the Priesthood.  I'm so grateful that I have a husband who is worthy to give me and my two girls blessings when things like this happen.  I'm so so grateful that I get to go through these trials with my best friend and he comforts me more then he will ever know.  Just saying....I have the best husband in the world, and we are blessed with the two most beautiful girls a mom could ask for!!