Dad (Brett)
Mom (Erin)
Aeriana ('Wacko', 'Princess')
Zoe Jean ('Stinker', 'Cutie')
Were You Waiting For Something?
What a weekend!Let's start with Friday. Erin had an appointment with the doctor Friday morning to assess how she was doing; the doctor said she looked good, was dilated to 1 cm, and scheduled her for induction on Sunday. That was at 11:30. We were happy that we were closer, but really were a bit impatient. Sunday was not soon enough.
At 1:30 Erin called me at work saying she might be in labor, the contractions were coming regularly, but we weren't certain since she'd had Braxton Hicks contractions the entire third trimester. After timing the contractions, and realizing they were getting more powerful, it didn't take long for us to realize that it was indeed the real thing. We packed up all our gear (duffel bag with Erin's clothes, backpack with laptop and books, and another backpack with camera gear... us travel light? I think not) and headed out.
After dropping Aeriana off with some friends we checked in around 4:00 at the hospital. The contractions continued to come regularly and by 6:30 Erin had progressed to a solid 6 cm! We relaxed, worked through the frequent contractions, and praised the anesthesiologist as he administered a perfectly effective epidural. With less pain we were ready for things to take a while, but around 8:15 the doctor stopped in to see how things were progressing and it was with shock that he said "You're fully dilated, don't push!" They scrambled to set things up, and by 8:29 (after a mere 5 minutes of pushing) we were holding little Zoe in our arms. It honestly could not have been a more perfect delivery.
Even though she was disoriented by this new environment, Zoe was clearly as happy to see us as we were to see her...
Little Zoe Jean made her appearance weighing in at 7 lbs. 6.7 oz. and measuring a solid 20 inches. (Interestingly enough this was 1/5th of an ounce different from Aeriana's weight, with both of our girls having the same length... bizarre, huh?)
We absolutely loved the hospital, they treated us (and Erin especially) like royalty. Along with a great gourmet dinner for the new parents and a relaxing massage for the exhausted new mom, they also allowed me and my camera to accompany Zoe for her first bath.
Erin loves hospitals so much that she convinced the doctors to let her leave as soon as possible. She got the medical go-ahead and only had to wait for Zoe's mandatory 24 hour blood test. At 8:30 on Saturday they came and borrowed Zoe for the last time and by 9:30 we were walking through our door. Not only did we have the wonderful sight of Erin's mom waiting for us (she's here for the week, saving us from sleep deprivation and spoiling us rotten), but we had some surprise visitors in the form of a very proud set of 'new' Grandparents and a very excited uncle, who had driven all day from North Carolina.
We don't dare forget the proud new big sister who was absolutely thrilled to have a baby in the house...
Honestly though, Aeriana loves giving Zoe hugs and kisses and is shaping up to be the best big sister ever. Of course, all of the attention from our visitors (including a few hours with Uncle Jason and Aunt Christine) helped keep her cheerful.
Unfortunately we had to bid most of our visitors farewell, but we're grateful that Grandma Etter is still here for a few more days to help us take care of this adorable little gift from heaven.
Labels: baby, family, pictures, Zoe
posted by Brett at
10:21 PM
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