Welcome Baby A

These last couple weeks have been a sort of babymoon for us as we've tuned the rest of the world out for a little while and just spent some time with our new baby. But now it's about time I started picking up all the loose threads of my life that I've been ignoring, one of which is this blog. First let me tell you a little of the birth.

Everything went better than we could have expected. I started having contractions about 2 weeks before our due date (which come to think of it was today). But they weren't lasting very long and Alex had to work on Fort Carson the next day with no way to back out, so I took it easy, not wanting to have our baby without him. But as soon as he got home from the base, we went on a long walk to my brother's house, just to visit. Once again, some contractions, but they didn't seem to be sticking. I kinda gave up on having her that day, and we made dinner plans with my brother and walked home to get ready, (and to make Alex's birthday cake.) However, this time they stuck. I kept having to take breaks in the cake making, and Alex ended up making most of his own cake.

By this time we called the midwife, Dotti. She didn't really believe that I was going into labor. (Mainly because I had called her, as opposed to Alex, and was able to talk through my contractions) She had me go lay down for a while to see if they would let up. They didn't. She reluctantly agreed to come check me, and Alex took little M to my brother's home for that dinner we had planned. Her husband was scheduled to come set up the labor pool that evening, and it was just starting to fill up when Dotti announced that I really was in labor, and we'd be having this baby soon. We feared that the pool wouldn't be ready in time. (It takes a lot of hot water to fill that thing.)

Anyway, labor got more intense, the assistants showed up and started taking care of everything. They really were angels. Alex and I just had to concentrate on getting through each contraction. Just as I was really wanting to get in the pool, it was about half full and we decided to get in anyway, while it continued to fill. Nothing felt so good as relaxing in that warm water between contractions. Before too long, Alex got in with me, and the next thing I knew it was time to push. Thank heavens that part has always been short for me. Two pushes and we had a baby in the water. Alex was able to catch the baby, and I was finally able to relax with my new baby in my arms. It all took 4 1/2 hours from the time we walked home to the time the baby was born. (A great improvement from the 36 hour labor I had with M.) And Alex now shares a birthday with both his brother and his new daughter.

There were no complications at all and my recovery has been a breeze except for an annoying cold I had for well over a week (it's hard enough getting sleep with a newborn without a racking cough added to the mix.) Once again, I thank my Heavenly Father that Baby A didn't get sick from either me or Little M, although I was constantly afraid she would. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Rachael, we now have the baby anouncements done. I'll be sending them out to immediate family members as soon as we can get my computer fixed. If anyone else would like one, please email me your current address and we'll get one sent on the way.

Baby A is beautiful and doing great! She was two weeks early so we had to be careful at first that she didn't get too cold or hot until her body could better regulate that itself, but she's doing wonderful and sleeps a lot; which I am grateful for. My mother came out to help us for a week. She was an angel, helping around the house and especially entertaining Little M all day, so she didn't feel brushed aside with all the new baby fuss.

You know, overall, I've spent a lot of time these past two weeks just looking at my two beautiful girls and kind, thoughtful husband, and marveling at how blessed I am. We've received so much help from friends and family, and really, I can't think of a single way this experience could have turned out any better than it did. (except maybe the cold) I'm so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who has been watching over us and has blessed us so much with all these wonderful people in our lives, and a beautiful, new, healthy, miracle to hold and love. I really love being a mom!