We're Home!

Since we're all finally home from the hospital I thought a few (okay, more than a few) pictures would be in order. But first, a little bit of the story of how our baby girl finally made her arrival.

I had my 40 week check-up last Wednesday on my official due date, May 19th. At the time I was only 1 cm dilated, so technically not really to close to going into labor. On Friday I received a phone call from one of the nurses at the office, letting me know I could go ahead and go for a non-stress test and an ultrasound Saturday morning. Mostly, we expected to go to my next appointment, scheduled for Monday morning and discuss induction options. My mom goes home this coming Saturday and we needed her here to watch Elijah while we were in the hospital.

I had been having regular contractions all week, but nothing out of the norm on Friday night. Saturday on the way to the hospital, Matthew and I discussed the possibility that I might go into labor while I was there and how convenient that would be. But neither of us wanted to get our hopes up too much. We got there a little after nine and had to wait a few minutes for a free nurse to come and hook me up to the monitors. Unfortunately, while we were waiting two other women on the floor delivered their babies. This is unfortunate since they both seem to be going the natural route, without pain meds. They were completely terrifying to listen to! I looked at Matthew and said, "Never mind, let's go home, she can stay in there!"

But she had other plans. They told me they would monitor her heart beat for around 30-60 minutes and then we could go for an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid. Well, around an hour and a half later I noticed that we weren't leaving and that I was having regular, but mild, contractions. Much to my surprise the next person to come in was not one of the nurses, but on of the midwives I've been seeing. She decided to go ahead and check me. I was now 2 cm, so still no full-on labor. She asked me to go walk around the hospital for about an hour and come back and get checked again. So, Matthew and I paced the halls of the hospital, talking anxiously, but excitedly about the thought of her being born that day.

An hour later when we got back, they checked me again, I was now 3-4 cm and they said they could admit me. Things went pretty quickly after that as real labor started. Matthew went ahead and ran home to get my mom and Elijah. This was around 2:30 and I was frantically sending out "I'm in labor!" text messages. Pretty soon after that things got pretty painful and I got my epidural. Not the most fun experience, but at that point I was ready for some relief! I never got fully numb like I did with Elijah, but it still "took the edge off".

Anyway, pretty soon I was fully dilated and ready to push. I sent Matthew to the waiting room to tell my mom at 5:20, I started pushing at 5:25 and at exactly 5:30, she was here! We could not believe how big she was! We were told she would be at least eight pounds, but no one expected her to be nine pounds on the nose!

That's about all of the exciting stuff. Things have been good since then, but we were really ready to come home this morning. Sophia is down to about 8 lbs 10 oz, but I still think there are a few newborn onesies she may only wear once! She's all cheeks though, and I may be a little bit biased, but I think she looks like me. So far she seems a lot more laid back than her brother was a this age, so we're hopeful she might be a better sleeper than he was.

For now, here are some pics to keep all the family happy, I'll try to keep them coming, but I may be a little busy. Especially next week when all my help goes home or back to work.