Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

After much waiting, we are happy to announce that our little Annie Jane finally joined our family early Saturday morning!  She is perfect and we are totally in love!
The Thursday before Annie was due, I went into the doctor for my last checkup, and the doc stripped my membranes.  I bled quite a bit that day (sorry if that's too graphic), but when I called the doctor to see if it was cause for concern, I was informed that it probably meant that labor would begin within 24 to 48 hours.  So we were expecting to have a baby last weekend!
On Monday morning, my Mom flew into town, and there was still no sign of little Annie.  I started getting a bit antsy.  I knew my mom would only be here a week, and I really wanted to be able to maximize the help from her.  I started walking every morning and every evening for about an hour to see if I could get things moving.  No luck.
We made it all the way to Friday with no sign of labor starting.  Friday morning I had an induction scheduled for 8:30 AM.  At about 6:30 AM, though, I received a call from the charge nurse at the hospital saying that they were full.  They told me they would be ready for me around noon, so to plan to be ready then.  At about 10 AM, my actual doctor called and said they were still not ready, but probably by early afternoon they would be.  By 12:30 PM when I hadn't heard anything, I called the hospital back.  They told me to call back at 3 PM.  When I did, they said that things were beginning to slow down, but it may still be several hours before I could come in.  You can only imagine the level of frustration I was experiencing.  My mom was going to be leaving in just three days, and I couldn't even get in at the hospital!  I didn't lose my temper, exactly, but I definitely vented my frustration to the nurse on the phone.  I'm not sure if it helped or not, but by 4:30 I got a call back that said to come on in and have a baby!  I was so relieved to finally be going!
Once there, it took a while to get things going (I know, you're shocked, right?!).   At 7:30 Friday night, the nurse started a slow drip of petocin.  Adam went and got himself some dinner, and I kicked back and watched HGTV.  By about 9:30 PM, I was still only dilated to a 4.  The doc came in and wanted to up the dose of pitocin and break my water.  I decided before we got too deep into the labor process, I wanted to go ahead and get an epidural.  ;-)  So we did that, and then the doc broke my water.  After that, things progressed very quickly.  I went from a 4 to an 8 in less than an hour, and I started feeling the urge to push.  I was also feeling every contraction very acutely.  Just before midnight, I asked if I could get a higher dose of the epidural medicine, so a different anesthesiologist came in to give me a boost.  After that, though, I went totally numb and couldn't feel anything at all.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to feel when to push, so the nurse told me if I wanted to wait, it would probably wear off in about an hour or so.  So Adam and I both fell asleep for a little over an hour.  At 1:10 AM, I woke up feeling ready to go.  The nurse checked me, and I was ready!  But then she left, and I was like, "What the heck?  Get ready, Adam, because this baby is coming!"  He called the nurse back very quickly.  :-)  A few minutes later the doctor came in, and it was go time!  I pushed for less than 10 minutes--literally just two pushes--and Annie was born at 1:43 AM.  I remember asking, "Is is definitely a girl?" as they laid her on my chest.  Once that fact was confirmed, I got my first good look at her.  I thought she was just perfect.  Even before she was cleaned, I thought she was the most beautiful little baby I had ever seen.  The doctor and nurses let me keep her on my chest for quite a long time while they did all the post-birth stuff to me.  It was heaven.  As I held her and looked at her, I knew my life would never, ever be the same again.  Then I thought of my angel boys at home, and I realized that ALL of our lives were changed for good.  I was as happy as I have ever been.

First Snuggles

After that, the nurse took Annie to weigh her and clean her.  I was shocked that she weighed in at only 7lb. 1oz.  So little!  McKay weighed almost a full pound more, and he was 4 days early!  Being that she was 4 days late, I was totally expecting mid-8 pound range.  And she looked chubby with a round face and double chin.  But she totally had me fooled!

Getting Cleaned Up

Wrapped around her little finger already!

Sweet Baby

It was about 3:30 AM when everything was taken care of and we finally got some sleep.  A few hours later, the boys came to meet their new sister for the first time.  I say meet, but I really think it was more of a reunion than a meeting.  :-)

They Love Her!

Three Generations 

I think she looks a little like my niece, Emma, as a baby in this one

We got another fun surprise around lunchtime.  My old roommate, Sarajane, coincidentally happened to be in Denver for the weekend for a wedding.  She was able to visit for a few minutes and meet Baby Annie.  In fact, Annie's middle name, Jane, is after this girl!  Sarajane actually set Adam and I up while we were all in college!

Annie Jane

The nurses loved all the little bows we had for her.  I told them after two boys, we were going to be doing lots of ribbons and bows!

We decided to leave the hospital on Sunday, just 36 hours after Annie arrived.  I was just ready to be home with my family and rest in my own bed.

Take Me Home!

So now we are home and life is good!  We are adjusting to life with three kids, and so far, it's gone well.  The boys have been sweet and helpful.  My mom flew home this afternoon, so now the real test will begin!