At long, long, LONG last!



Amelia was born at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday evening. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 12 ounces, 20 1/2 inches.
We had a really long labor. It lasted about 40 hours, and was pretty hard because she was posterior presentation-- back labor is no fun! Things progressed very slowly, too slowly. After 40 hours, I hadn't dilated past 7, despite maximal contractions. We ended up having a cesarean birth. At that point, I was really ready to be done and to just have Amelia. It had been hard on both of us, and I was relieved to know that she would be born within a half an hour of making the decision. We found out afterward that she had the cord wrapped around her neck, came out kind of gray, with labored breathing. I was even more glad then that we had gone ahead with the surgery!
They took her to the NICU, but they sent her over to the nursery within a few minutes because she was doing so well. So amazing to finally meet her!

In spite of a difficult birth and some disappointments, we still had a very positive experience. We had the birthing "dream team," I think: Jeff, my mom, Jeff's mom (who is a nurse,) our friend Sarah was our nurse, and we have a wonderful OB doctor. All of the other staff at the hospital was amazingly kind and supportive, as well! One of the nurses that I had before Sarah came called later to see how things were going and to let us know she was praying for us. A couple of others that were friends of Sarah's also let us know they were praying for us throughout. What a sweet sense of support! Although I am 100% glad I'm done, I can honestly say that I enjoyed much of the process, mostly because of the community experience in that birthing room with Jeff, Mom and Amy. So even though the birth came later than I was hoping (date-wise) the timing was great that the moms could attend.

This picture is like a dream for me. I have waited so long to feel Amelia against me, and i cannot get enough of her.

This is a little blurry, but I love those eyes! She seems to get sweeter every day.