(hand on tummy) The baby is coming!

Monday.

August 13 at 8:32pm.

8lb 9oz, 21½ inches long

Sabrina is born.

With Sophie, I was induced. So with Sabrina I anxiously awaited that moment when I knew that it's time. The baby is coming. Well, I got to experience that feeling.

My doctor (who is really awesome, by the way) had kept giving high hopes that Sabrina would be born BEFORE her due date but when that date came and went (Aug 10) I was still pregnant. I had an appointment with my doctor and he stripped my membranes in hopes to get labor going. He stripped them at roughly 2:30 and by 3 I was beginning to feel contractions. I called Dave and told him that it might be a good idea to come home. I'm so glad I did because had I waited to call him home later he would have been stuck in traffic right at the time I needed to be at the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 5pm and I had dilated to 7cm. Things were moving pretty quickly and I was getting terrified that I wasn't going to have time to get an epidural (side note: with Sophie it took an hour or so for the anesthesiologist to arrive in my room and hook me up with some), but there was time for it. However, my epidural didn't want to kick in fully for me so I was experiencing a lot of pain. All through this the nurse kept saying that I had perfect pain control. My doctor for Sophie had said something similar so apparently I have a high tolerance for pain.

Speaking of pain, here's my "secret" for controlling it. Don't let your husband touch or talk to you. All those things we learned in our birthing class ended up not being useful for us. I don't like people talking to me when I'm in pain. Leave me alone, and I'm fine.

When it came time to push, I only had to push for maybe 5-10 minutes. It went very quickly and I'm so grateful for that! After she was born and the nurses were cleaning her up I just kept thinking, "I'm not pregnant anymore!" Such a happy thought.

Sabrina is an easy baby who LOVES being swaddled and/or cuddled.She is very strong too. At her 1 month appointment her doctor said she was moving her head around like a 4 month old.

Sophie had to warm up to our newest member of the family. She now has accepted her and is anxious to help out--usually by sticking the pacifier into Sabrina's mouth.You can see how Sophie first felt about Sabrina here:

Sophie has been dealing with her life getting turned upside down fairly well. Though I think she is adjusting well, there was A LOT of fake crying right at first. Now she just has occasional melt downs when I say "No" to something-- even if I say it in the nicest way possible! So I'm trying to balance out giving her enough attention without encouraging her negative behavior. That's tough.

This picture makes me happy. Dave and the girls.

Here's one that Soph took:

Caption This... 

10 points for the best caption. :)