Alice

Before heading to the hospital the night before. (This ones for you Michelle)

Alice. 7lbs 6oz. 20 1/2 inches long. Her eyes are a really dark gray, on their way to being brown with brown hair.

First family photo.

Checking her vitals.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I had my little Alice. I went in at 7 am on Feb 25th to get started only to be sent home right when we got there. Apparently there was an emergency the night before that set everyone back, and the scheduled C-section at 8:00 took precedence over me. No big deal. I went home and slept until 9:45 while Cameron put my phone table together and then we went back. I'm a big believer in getting started especially since things are fairly predictable with my labors. They got me hooked up to all the junk and had my pit going around 11ish. I told the nurse I wanted my epidural before the doctor broke my water so that it was working before the baby started to make its appearance. That was in before 12:00. They were really on top of it.

Cameron channel surfed while I read my book and all was well. A little before 1:00 the doctor came in and broke my water. I was maybe pushing a 5 (came in at only a 2) at this point and I was still just chillin'. The nurse kept looking at me like I should be needing something, but really, I felt fine. Could feel a little pressure during some of the contractions, but kept reading my book. Cameron was put in charge of watching my contractions to make sure they weren't coming too quickly and time marched on. Around 3:00 things started to pick up a little bit. I was dialated to a 7, but still had a lip of cervix to get around still. My sweet nurse Jan told me she would love it if I would have the baby before 4:30 so that she could get the paperwork done before shift change. I jokingly told her I would do my best. She put me in a sitting up, with the feet down position to see if things would get going quicker. That seemed to help quite a bit and I quickly moved to an 8 than 9. I told her I was getting a little uncomfortable so she called in Shane for some more epidural meds. That hadn't started to work quite yet when she had me switch positions to lay on my left and then it hit me. There was definitley a baby down there. She called up my doctor and got everything ready to go. About this point I got nautious, then hot, and then under control. Of course the little umph Shane gave me kicked in right as the doctor showed up, so pushing took a little while, but not too long. Little miss Alice made her entrance at 4:29 pm. She actually cried a little, which is a first for my kids.

What an amazing blessing. I don't feel any different, although I thought I should having four kids. She just fits. Yeah I feel a little worse than before I went in to have her. My arms bruised, the back hurts and stuff, but really, I'm in good shape and being her mom never felt more right. The kids already love her, and I'm excited for them to come back from my mom's so they can get to know her better. I've enjoyed the best few days being with her and Cameron. My kids are so blessed to have a daddy that LOVES them. He can't get enough of her and is always coming to give her kisses or cuddle with her. It's been sad having him gone to church stuff and now work and leaving me alone but he makes up for it when he gets home. Welcome little Alice. It's so nice to have you as part of our eternal family.