October 6th is always a special day for our family. My husband's birthday is on that day, and this year I decided, "What the heck. He's a pretty great guy, so I'll splurge and give him a baby for his birthday." : )
The day started off very, very early. The kids spent the night with Nana and Aunt Robin so that they wouldn't have to get up at 4:30, but they made it to the hospital bright and early. Jackson was so sweet. He was pretty concerned about me and how I was feeling. He came in several times throughout the morning, just to check on me and make sure I was okay. This picture was taken before the contractions kicked in.
Labor and delivery was more or less what I expected. I was labeled "history of quick delivery," so all the nurses were ready for the main event by 9:00 a.m. The funniest part of all that is it didn't matter how prepared we all were, we still had to wait on the doctor.
Let's break here for a quick history lesson: when Sadie was born, I went into labor at home around 11:35 p.m. (Contractions began then. Like a good patient, I was waiting the requisite hour to make sure contractions were regular...and then they went from 8 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart in one contraction), got to the hospital at 12:50 a.m., and Sadie was born around 1:10 a.m. No pain meds. Would've delivered sooner, but had to wait for doctor. Of course. Because no one else in the room can say "PUSH" quite like a doctor. Whatever.
Now, I'm not mad at my doctor. Much. But my epidural didn't take well and it wasn't exactly a walk in the park to NOT push. But once he arrived, it was a breeze. Three pushes and Annabelle was here! She came out crying and I realized why the last few weeks of my pregnancy were so uncomfortable! That sweet little girl was 22 inches long! I kept telling people that she was more of a "stretcher" than a "kicker"...and boy was that an understatement! :)
I will spare you the icky post-birth pics. She might want to look you in the eye someday. But these pics were shortly after she arrived. Her daddy and her siblings were sooo proud.
Jackson--the boy who only recently told his little sister that his cousin "stole his baby brother"--was completely smitten...to the point of just wanting to sit and look at her. Of course, Sadie loves her too, but that was a given!
Annabelle is such a sweet baby. Now, I know she isn't really smilling, but she smiles all the time and almost always has a pleasant look on her face. And she is so alert!
The nurse was so nice to the kids when she gave Annabelle her first bath. She pulled up little step stools and let them help bathe her. They did a great job! This was right up Sadie's alley, because all she wants is to be a little mother to her baby sister.
One major mistake I made was forgetting to put on waterproof mascara that morning! Oh well.
Sadie likes to give Annabelle her "wahwah" (pacifier, for those of you who don't speak Sadie)...she has a hard time understanding why she doesn't want it. And the camo moose in the picture (by my dad's shoulder) is a toy of Jackson's that he brought for Annabelle to play with. How sweet is that?
Right before this picture was taken, we let Jackson hold Annabelle. Sadie broke down crying because she thought we weren't going to let her hold her baby sister. She perked right up when we put Annabelle in her arms. (And for those of you who know Sadie at all, she has yet to call Annabelle "Honey"...she says that's not her sister's name. I think she's afraid it will hurt Annabelle's feelings.)
This is the expression I see almost the entire time this sweet girl is awake. With the exception of about 30 minutes at night, she is completely pleasant and content.
Today marks her one week birthday. Time has truly flown by so far! We are blessed.
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