Happy 4th of July (a little late)!

I'm finding that as a new mom there's a lot of things I plan to do that just don't get done when I thought they would. What I'm speaking of at this time is this blog. I've said everyday this past week that I'm going to update everyone and share some pictures of our little girl.










She arrived on Monday morning at 7:16, June 30, 2008 a few days earlier than her July 4 predicted due date. I was the happiest of all to have her here early, and I'm guessing John was the 2nd happiest to hear an end to pregnancy complaints. Of course, neither of us knew a lot of what to expect as far as the afterbirth complaints, so we just traded the old ones for some new ones.


Here are the details... I started having very, very mild contractions throughout the day on Saturday last week, but I really was able to ignore them and wasn't even sure whether to call them contractions. On Sunday morning, my contractions were stronger, although still mild, but coming at 4-6 minute intervals. I called the nurse and spoke with her and she advised me to stay home until they were strong enough that I had difficulty talking, but not to wait if they got closer together. John and I were getting ready to go to the hospital, showering, packing, etc. I called my sister in Nashville and she headed to Birmingham. We called family and told them it could be anytime now. By lunchtime though the contractions were spreading back out to 20 and 30 minutes apart. By mid-afternoon I quit timing them because I was so frustrated. I walked multiple times that day and played the Wii for a few hours that night just to be active and help the contractions along. By 9:30 that night the contractions were back to 15-20 minutes apart and the rest of the evening they steadily progressed to 10 and then 8 minutes apart and they were getting much stronger. I wasn't getting much sleep because I was waking for every contraction, so I started planning to get up and shower and eat breakfast (and this is about 2:30 am.) About 2:45 all plans to take my time flew out the window, because I felt a pop and my water broke. My contractions went from 8 to 3 minutes apart just like that and they were SIGNIFICANTLY more painful. I knew what the nurse meant about not being able to talk through them at that point. So, I got John up and thankfully everything was in the car already so we headed to the hospital. When we got there the contractions were 1 1/2 to 2 minutes apart and lasting more than a minute, not much break by the way. I was able to walk to the 3rd floor nurses station and sign in all while having a contraction. The nurse took me back to check me out, but I was not taken to the huge room where you deliver babies, instead I went to a triage room. The nurse checked and said (in a very surprised tone) that I was 6-7 cm dilated already. She also commented that I was so calm walking in that she was sure I wasn't in labor and I would be going home soon. (Apparently, you should make a really big fuss when you get there so they take you seriously... note to all expectant moms out there.) She confirmed that my water had broken and wheeled me to the big delivery room. They had to get blood work and get results before the anasthesiologist could give me an epidural, but they finally got everything ready and Dr. Carlson (the best doctor ever!) came in to give me my pain relief. I was much more comfortable at that point, so I'll skip ahead. I got to the hospital about 3:45 and delivered little Isabella at 7:16 am. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. She's just beautiful in my opinion. It's by far the most surreal moment of my life to hold her in my arm after feeling her inside me for 9 months.

This is just after Isabella's first bath, which I will tell you she did not enjoy. She turned red all over she was screaming so loud, well, right up until I scrubbed her head. She actually seemed to like that part, but who doesn't like to get their hair washed?

This is aunt Lauren giving Rocky a treat for being a new big brother, so he wouldn't feel left out.
This is me and my little angel on 4th of July. I debated getting her an outfit, since I wasn't sure she'd be here to wear it. I'm glad for the surprise.

Our new family!