She's Here!

Our little girl has finally arrived! I will write the birth story soon, but for now . . . I did actually go into labor Thursday morning, about 24 hours before my scheduled induction. And 20 hours later, she was born--just after midnight. She weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long, which was much bigger than we or the doctor expected!

A few things about the birth:

• We ended up doing the opposite of the majority of the things on our birth plan, but, since the main objective of the birth plan was me and the baby both in one piece, that was OK.
• It was not at all like I imagined.
• I very carefully packed a labor & delivery bag, wanting to not be the woman who overpacks.
• I used absolutely nothing I had packed during labor & delivery.

The funniest conversation I had in the hospital was the talk I had with the new post-partum nurse who came on duty 7 hours after the baby was born:

Nurse: Are you having any vision problems?
Me: Not really. I felt kind of cross-eyed when they wheeled me over here, but now it's OK.
Nurse: It might just be the anasthesia.
Me: I didn't have anasthesia.
Nurse: No anasthesia.
Me: No.
Nurse: None at all.
Me: No.
Nurse: How'd that work out for you?
Me: It was tough.
Nurse: Yeah. That's how I had my babies, too. They didn't have epidurals then. It was kind of like pushing out a grand piano.

I'm just incredibly grateful to have made it to this point--at home with a healthy baby. I'm humbled by this amazing blessing and the knowledge that God has given us the gift and responsibility of being parents to this beautiful little person.

I'm not sure how long I'll leave it up here, but here is one of my favorite pictures from the hospital.