Our First Week!

Our first week with little Penelope has flown by! Each day, or night rather, is getting easier so I hope to update the blog more regularly soon. I'm writing out her birth story before I forget the details...I'm sure this is going to get long:
Penelope Jane
9/16/08 11:15
8 lbs 4 oz
21 inches

About 4 am on Monday I started timing contractions because I wasn't sleeping through them. I decided to work from home just in case this was the real deal. About noon they were spacing out so I thought this was the dreaded false labor. I took Cece for a walk hoping that a few good squirrel chases would start things up again. It seemed to work because they came back with a vengence. At 4 I asked Chris to come home. Thank goodness I was able to focus on work most of the day because staring at the clock waiting for the next one would have made me crazy. By 8 pm contractions were strong and 3 to 4 minutes apart so we decided to head to the hospital. When we turned on the car the radio was playing "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King. I can't even remember the last time I heard that song on the radio. We laughed so hard it got me through multiple contractions on the way to the hospital. Thankfully I was far enough along to be admitted. Baby had finally dropped some, but still had a long ways to go. Chris and I walked the hospital hallways for a while and peeked in at the babies in the nursery. As many of you know I really wanted to go drug free. Well, by 11:00 all I wanted to do was lie down and of course that was the most uncomfortable position. Chris had all the pep talk lines I had given him to help me out. When I was at 5 cm I asked for the epidural. Chris said "But Laura, remember this is your marathon!" I said "I know, but 5 cm is halfway there and I'm okay doing a half marathon. That's a big accomplishment, right?" He laughed and said that it was completly up to me. By the time I got the epi about 45 mins later I had made it to 7 cm. We thought everything was going to fly by...well, I stayed exactly the same for 12 hours. We did try to increase my contractions with pitocin but it didn't do the trick. The worst part was 3 times we had all the nurses running in because Penelope's heart rate was decelerating. At this point I was so far off my "birth wishes" that when my doctor said she'd rather do a c-section now instead of waiting till an emergency required it I agreed right away. The c-section went pretty well. Penelope was really stuck so it took a little longer than usual to get her out. When they brought her over to me her face was scrunched up tight but Chris and I started talking to her and she relaxed to show us her beautiful eyes.

Recovery in the hospital went really well. The 2nd night home was pretty rough, but we are getting used to the pattern. Penelope is still getting over jaundice so she is somewhat sleepy, but we've had a few alert hours each day. We already see an amazing personality and of course have a plethora of nicknames for her depending on her mood. Next blog--meeting the Virginia grandparents (she already finds them pretty loony)