It's been waaaaay too long!! Update 1--the birth

Hi Everyone! Well, as you can imagine things have been crazy around here since little Amélie was born. It's hard to believe, but she just turned 6 weeks old this week! She is a very good baby--very sweet. She is a little more fussy than Denis was--she likes to be held a lot, which is very hard when having to take care of two and keeping up with the house. I have to admit that it has been very very stressful and I've had several crying spells, but I hope it gets better soon! I've had a lot of help--Agnes, the lady who was coming to take care of Denis one morning a week now comes two mornings a week from 9-12:30. Also, Denis goes to school 2 mornings a week, so it's been nice to only handle one at a time for some time during the day!

Well, I have so much to update! I'm going to use this first post just to talk about the birth. So here goes: Amélie's birth was sooo much easier than it was with Denis! I went in for my checkup that morning and the dr. said I was 3 cm dialated and that I could head over to the hospital to be induced. We planned it for the 29th b/c Denis' birthday is the 29th and our anniversary is the 29th, so we thought we might as well keep up with the tradition!! So, I went to the hospital, got hooked up to all the machines, got an IV in my hand (YUCK--which hurt so bad b/c I don't have good veins apparently). They gave me the pitocin and I started feeling contractions. They weren't that bad and I really wanted to go as long as I could without medicine, but after the dr. broke my water, the contractions came on stronger and she said I better get the epidural now or it might be too late--so I did.

The epidural wasn't as painful as last time, but it worked a little too well!! As I was laying in bed I felt numb all the way up to my armpits!! The dr. had to come back in and slow down the medicine--it felt like it was hard to breathe b/c my lungs felt a little paralyzed. But once they lowered the medicine, it was better. I laid in bed and watched the food network and HGTV while waiting to dialate to 10cm. I don't remember the times when everthing occured, but around 4:00, the nurse checked me and said, "Oh wow, you are 10cm and the babys head is already halfway down the birth canal! Call the dr. , quick!!" My doctor came running in the room out of breath exclaiming, "oh my gosh , oh my gosh, ok I"m here!" She was rushing around to put her scrubs on! She told me that I'd having the baby in the next few contractions!! I was so amazed b/c with Denis I had to push for 1 hour, but Amélie was almost already out!!! The epidural was so strong that I couldn't feel anything! At least with Denis I could feel the contractions and a little pain, but this time I couldn't feel a thing. When they told me to push, I had no idea if I was pushing or not! But I had a mirror there so I could watch as Amelie made her entrance into the world! With just 3 pushes, she was out!! I cried so much, it happened so fast I didn't even realize what happened! All of a sudden there was a baby on my chest!!! I was dizzy and little disoriented from the epidural.

After cleaning her up and weighing her, they brought her back to me and I got to look in her eyes for the first time. My first thought was, "she had yiayia Maria's eyes!!!" (my mom's mother) It was as if I was looking into my grandmother's eyes, but in a baby. It was so neat!

My mom, dad, and Don's mom came in soon after to visit. My friend Julie also came to visit me that day.

Here were her stats: Born January 29, 4:14 pm 7lbs. 15oz. 20 inches.

I will post some pics from this beautiful day. The next posts will be little updates from the last 6 weeks (whenever I get a chance to update!)
until next time,
Nicole