She's here!

Well, I am pleased to announce the birth of our daughter - Sydney Blair. Although her official due date was not until February 8, she decided she was ready to come - much to our delight.

On Monday January 23 I awoke at 4 a.m. with a strong contraction, by 4:15 a.m. my water broke and we headed to the hospital. I must admit, at first it wasn't bad. My contractions were about 8 minutes apart and I felt pretty good. Around 5 a.m. I wanted to die and I told Donnie he had to do something about the pain. Finally at 6:30 a.m. I received an epidural and from there on out it was smooth sailing.

My parents were on their way from the other side of the country so we were hoping the baby would wait for them. We started puching around 11:40 a.m. and my parents arrived around noon - that's when the doctor came too.

Thankfully they were there to see her birth. Surprisingly so, Donnie didn't pass out, but rather he made it through the whole process. He even took pictures of it all. I was relieved when I no longer needed to push, as I found this to be the most difficult part of it all!

She was born at 12:33 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs and 8 oz. She was 21 inches long and absolutely beautiful. She looks a lot like her dad, but has her mom's attitude (when she wants to eat you have to feed her immediately or she screams!).

You can check out a picture of her here: http://www.utahportraits.com/hospital/index.php?action=view&BabyID=012306sby

Could be soon...

Yesterday we had another weekly visit with the doctor. Last week He told us I was dilated to about a 3 and 75 percent efaced. That sounded pretty good to me and made me think, "Oh maybe she'll come early."

Dr. Gamette said most first babies run a little late though so we'll just have to wait and see. The coolest thing we learned is that now Sydney's heart is big and string enough that Donnie can put his ear just below my belly button and listen to her heart beat.

Yesterday we went back hoping for some news that we have progressed a little and we were not disappointed. We are dilated to a little more than 3 and are 80 percent efaced. Instead of waiting until next Friday, Dr. Gamette wants to see us on Wednesday.

After the exam he seemed a little more confident that the baby would come sooner rather than later - which is great for us. We can't wait for her to come! He also said that she is already over 8 pounds and is a very healthy size. She will grow atleast a pound a week and if we have to wait for her due date (2 more weeks) then she will be really big and I am not sure I will appreciate that.

We are now just waiting on her to come and Dr. Gamette gave us one last piece of advice - "The thing that got you into this mess may help get you out."

I guess we'll see.

It's almost time...

Well, yesterday we went to the doctor for a checkup and everything is going really well. We have about 4 more weeks to go, but I am already dilated to a 2 and so she may arrive a little sooner.

I have been having contractions, but they are about two and a half hours apart and they usually only come at night. Maybe it is a sign of things to come and we will have her in the middle of the night.

The doctor said she is already in position and we will go back next Friday to see how things are progressing. It would be nice if she came a little early, but we would like her to wait at least two more weeks so she will be ready.