April 2, 2011 - 7 lbs 14 oz - 20.5 inches longDan took this picture below with his phone and sent it out to family and friends announcing Amelia's birth.
People joked that I didn't look like I'd just given birth and I thanked Dan for taking a good picture(I think I look close to death in the pictures just after delivering Lydia and Emmett)! When my sister Chelsea saw this she said that it looked like I'd been at a picnic and had a baby dropped in my lap! That made me laugh and although I sincerely appreciate the compliment I have to admit that compared to my last two labor and deliveries, this one was literally like a picnic! It was Delightful!I finally had time to sit down tonight and spent over an hour writing in my journal about every detail of Amelia's labor, delivery and first week of life! I'm attempting to spare you all the long detailed birth story but if you are one who enjoys that, I'll email it your way! For the rest of you enjoy a sneak peek at this beautiful little angel who has joined our family and blessed our lives!
In a nutshell we had fantastic nurses, a fabulous doctor, an epidural before it was too late this time! Total labor was less than 5 hours and I only had to push for less than 10 minutes. I felt peaceful and happy the entire time. Dan and I enjoyed talking, laughing, planning and even watched part of General Conference! I didn't rip or tear and have had the best recovery yet! We were able to head home from the hospital less than 24 hours after Amelia's birth and we took home with us the most perfect, healthy and beautiful baby girl!
I have three theories as to why this labor and delivery were so great:1. I was in better shape then ever before. I had been training for a half marathon with my sisters when I found out I was pregnant. I ran it at 8 weeks and got my best time yet! I had also started Crossfit in July and incorporated it two or three times a week into my exercise. I was able to modify but continue doing crossfit through out my entire pregnancy and this kept most of my muscles strong! I was even still able to pull the kids in the bike trailer two weeks before Amelia's birth!
2. I figure that the fact that this is my third pregnancy and delivery means my body knows what it is doing. Getting a good nights rest and great breakfast sure helped going into it, feeling confident in my birth plan and trusting my body to respond must have just come with experience!
3. Finally, I think the Lord was really blessing me. A week before I had been feeling really sick. I had struggled through intense round ligament pains on and off all day and was suddenly so tired of being pregnant. I recall telling Dan, "maybe we only need three kids, I don't think I can physically do this again!" The Lord must really want us to someday have our fourth like we'd always planned on so he blessed me to have such a pleasant experience to encourage me that maybe I just can do one more someday!
My wonderful in-laws watched the kids for the day and once we'd moved up to the mother & baby unit they brought Lydia and Emmett to meet their new baby sister. The only bummer was that the hospital was still under RSV season, thus no children under age 14 were allowed back in the rooms and they had to settle for peeking at Amelia in the hallway through the nursery windows.
This broke Lydia's heart because she remembers sitting on the hospital bed with me when she got to come see Emmett and hold him. When she got up to the window and saw Amelia she squealed with delight and said how cute she was, then she said, "I want to hold her!" When Dan explained why she couldn't her lips began to quiver, eyes filled up with tears and it was all she could do to hold back crying. When I saw her little face I began to tear up too! Emmett on the other hand had fallen asleep on the drive to the hospital and Grandpa had carried him in asleep on his shoulder. Dan tried to wake him by telling him to look at his new sister. He lifted his head up turned and looked at the baby then closed his eyes and put his head back down. We all got a kick out of his reaction, or lack thereof! I came out into the hall way to give the kids hugs and had presents for them from their new baby sister. This really helped cheer them up. The nurse also held Amelia right up next to the window so Lydia could get a good look at her face and even her toes! Needless to say the kids were thrilled to hold her as soon as we brought her home!
My Mom and Grandma "GG" arrived Sunday evening to help us out for the week. When they came to the door Lydia ran out excitedly yelling, "Grandma, we have a new baby sister!" Emmett then came running around the corner and in a similar enthusiastic voice shouted out, "Grandma we have a new minivan!" Hilarious! Boys and girl's are so different!
I can not even begin to express my deep gratitude to them both for sacrificing their week and time and energy to come and care for us as we adjust to being a family of five! The kids had so much fun playing with Mumsie and I loved listening to them as they played and giggled and would call out "Grandma" all day long. I have never seen my mom play so much with them and I admire all of her energy and creativity! They made so many fun memories and Emmett even called me Grandma a time or two the day she left to head back home. It was also really sweet to have G.G here and for the kids to get to know her better. I believe her favorite spot was either in the rocking chair snuggling sweet Amelia or out in the sunny backyard collecting rocks! I also owe a great big Thank You to all of our dear friends and family who have been so kind and done so much to make our lives easier this past week. That will have to be saved for another blog post but until then we feel so very glad and grateful to have such kind and generous family and friends. Most of all we feel blessed that this precious angel, Amelia, has joined our home and family!
