Welcome Amelia Marie!!!

We were all set for Amelia to make her debut... everything went just as we planned, which I laugh about because birth plans never happen so perfectly.  It helps to have 5 kids and know what my body is known to do.  I was 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and had a doctor's appointment on December 1.  I knew he was willing to strip my membranes.  I was already at 4 cm.  Tyler was able to square away paternity leave for a month!  So he started it on the first.  As far as we knew, we would be having a baby that day or the next.

After the appointment, I was having consistent, but very light, contractions every 5 minutes.  We had lunch and I showered.  We also waited for Makenzie to come home from school, as she was going to be present for the birth.  We decided to go into the hospital just to see if they would keep us. That was at 3:30pm.  They monitored me for an hour and my doctor gave them permission to keep me.  So we went through all the admit stuff.  I got my epidural (not really needing it at that moment.) My doctor came and broke my water at 5:45.  My epidural wasn't working on my right side, so they had to make a few adjustments.  Afterwards, my nurse told me to let her know when I felt pressure.  She was gone for less than a minute--no joke-- and I felt the pressure.  Sure enough, Amelia was ready to come!  We then had to track down the doctor for 10-15 minutes.  That was the worse feeling... not to push when you wanted to.  The doc came--and I pushed once-- and Amelia was born at 6:42pm.  

The morning of December 1....

Some of the first pictures of Amelia!  Makenzie was our picture-taker!  I'm so glad to have had her in the room to experience childbirth firsthand with her mother and little sister.

The hospital was great in the fact that I got skin-to-skin contact with Amelia from the very beginning and they let ME decide when we were ready to hand her over to get her stats and initial check.  Within 15 minutes after birth all medical personnel were gone, and we got to enjoy her quietly by ourselves.

Little Miss was 6 lbs, 8 oz and 19 inches long.

 All the siblings got to come steal a quick peek at her before bedtime. They had Amelia swaddled in 3 blankets, so she looked like an Eskimo.  Ellionna was just so excited!  She kept repeating in a squealing voice, "She is so cute!!"  and "I just love my baby sister!"

Gavin is loving is little sister too!  He will sing her such cute songs.

Jordan is the "least" interested in the baby, but he still is happy to have a new baby in the house.

And look at that beaming big sis!!  She has been such a big help in so many ways.  She loves holding her and has even changed a few diapers.

 First picture as a family of 7!

Just lovin' on my baby.

 I went home less than 24 hours after birth.  

I'd much rather be home.

Ellionna hung out with us until we were discharged the next day.   Her face shows it all!

Xela meeting Amelia for the first time... She is patiently waiting for the cue.

Yep.... she just sleeps a lot.  She is our "noisiest" sleeper so far.... lots of grunts and groans.  We just hold her constantly and watch the cute little faces we get.  

 

We decided to bless her while we had both of our parents here visiting.  She was only a week and a half old.  The blessing dress drowned her.

Working hard on paternity leave--- aka VACATION!