Here She Comes......

Our new baby is here!  Charlotte Ann Cox was born Sunday, June 3 @ 7:05 pm.  She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19 inches long.  That's about a pound less than all the other babies we've had...I didn't even know I could make them that small!

  I had been debating whether I should get induced before my doctor went out of town on Wednesday, or waiting and hoping I made it to my parents' farewell on the 10th and getting induced on the 11th, 3 days after my due date.  But I woke up having contractions on Saturday night about 3:00 in the morning.  I couldn't believe I was actually having real, painful contractions.  After they started getting closer and closer, Dave started getting dressed and getting ready to call the neighbors.  But I said, "I'm at least getting a shower before we leave."  By the time I was done in the shower, they were getting farther apart, so we decided to wait a little bit.  After a couple of hours, they were down to every 45-60 minutes.  So I thought, "Well, that must be false labor.  Good thing we didn't go to the hospital."  We got ready and went to church.  I had one every 30 minutes through church, so that wasn't bad.  When we came home, I started getting the house ready because my parents were coming up to have dinner with us and wish Sadie a Happy Birthday.  Her birthday was Saturday, the 2nd.  Pretty soon, the contractions were hurting more and coming closer.  Dave made Davis time the contractions, so for an hour and a half, I heard a minute by minute countdown from my son.  When my parents arrived about 4:00, I had to stop talking and grip the counter with every one, but they still weren't super consistent.  My parents watched me for about 10 minutes and said, "I think you should go to the hospital."  But I was hungry and wanted dinner and didn't want to leave and I thought I must still be a ways away because they timing  was still inconsistent. My dad and Dave gave me a blessing and then I hurriedly gave my Mom instructions for staying with the kids.  We thought she'd have to stay overnight and my dad would come back in the morning and get her.  But that was not the case.  By the time I got to the hospital and checked in at 5:45, I was dilated to almost a 7.  I was in serious pain, and Dave was whispering, "WHY DIDN'T WE LEAVE SOONER?!?"  The staff was awesome, though.  I had an epidural within 30 minutes, and Charlotte was born 30 minutes later.  Dave and I just stared at each other like, "What just happened?"  4 hours ago, we were just driving home from church!  I felt great, a short labor really is good, even though it was intense.  Dave was back home with the kids by 9:30 and my parents drove back home.  Can you believe our good luck that they were there at the perfect time, and we still had them home by bedtime?

Now we're home.  And Davis and Claire ADORE her and want to hold her all the time.  Wow, older kids are FABULOUS with a new baby.  And I feel the best I ever had.  I can't even tell I had a baby. With the exception of my enormous right foot that has been swollen for 3 weeks, and still is.  It looks deformed next to my skinny left foot. Charlotte changes every day, it seems.  Every day I think she looks like someone else.  But she definitely fits our mold.  She is sleeping and eating really well; we just have to work on keeping her happy when she's actually awake.  This might be the first time I have to watch what I eat and maybe, horror of horrors, stop dairy!

Enjoy the pics of the kiddos!