I've been a major slacker in the internet department lately... but I suppose y'all will let me slide a bit on that, right? ;)

I wanted to do a quick update just to let all those who were curious know about the details of labor and delivery (especially since I'd been whining non-stop about waiting for her to arrive!).

Monday afternoon I had an appointment with my doctor, and although I had to wait for a bazillion years, wrapped up in one of those lovely paper blankets while he helped another patient deliver her baby, it was worth it.

He told me that the earliest they could schedule an induction would be Friday (the 21st), but he ended up doing something to get labor started (I won't go into the gross details here), and said that no matter the degree of discomfort I had that afternoon, I could go ahead and call him and come in that evening. (I was already dilated to 3 cm. too- woohoo.) I could go ahead and be induced if I was having any contractions at all; and he said that he would expect to hear from me before 8pm.

I dig my doc. Hehe

So - as soon as I got in the car I started having contractions. I went and picked up the kiddos and my babysitter from the mall and started making phone calls to make arrangements for the kids. It kind of took us all off guard (as you can imagine!). By the time we got home I was having regular contractions, but none of them were particularly painful- just a bit uncomfortable.

Shaun got home and we finished up some stuff around the house, loaded up our luggage, and waited for my grams, my sis, and my cousin Shawn (who came through in a major pinch to help with the driving- rock on, little cuz!). :) My Shaun was getting antsy to leave for the hospital, but I told him I needed to wait and call the doc to make sure it was okay for me to come in. I started to time my contractions about 10 minutes before my grams arrived... and they were surprisingly already 3-5 minutes apart!

I called labor and delivery and the nurse said, "Um, you need to come in - now." About that time, Grams rolls up in the driveway and we literally follow them out of the neighborhood... they head off to her home and we head to the hospital. It was around 5 pm on Monday evening.

I prayed the whole way to the hospital that we wouldn't run into any traffic- I was scared that even though I wasn't feeling the contractions too much at this point, that once we got to the hospital I'd be freaking out in pain. We hit absolutely NO traffic, even though we were on all the major interstates and roadways in Birmingham at rush hour, the week before Christmas. :)

I got settled in by 6pm in a bed, got the ol' epidural by around 6:45, and a little pitocin to get things moving along. Sabriel did not like the contractions, so I kept having to be adjusted to my side and had to wear an oxygen mask, which was a little awkward. I also had a small prob with my epidural (it got pushed into a blood vessel for a little bit- scared the crap out of me! It was all okay, though- the people there at the hospital totally were on their game).

Once I was fully ready to push, I pushed 3 times and the nurse was calling for my doctor to get in there right away. She was holding Sabriel's head in... once the doc was in there and ready, she moved her hand and Sabriel pushed herself out. It was the most amazing and easy delivery. She was born at 9:32pm.

She has been the easiest baby ever... she sleeps all the time, doesn't fuss hardly at all (I've only heard her REALLY cry a couple of times), and eats really well. It's been great because, as you can imagine, learning to juggle three kids is definitely a challenge. I've been so thankful to Shaun and my little sis for all the help they are giving. I'm scared for when Shaun goes back to work and I'm left alone with the natives.

Big sis really digs her; big bro is kind of ignoring her for the most part- I have some cute videos of the sibling's reactions that I'll upload soon.

So that's the big story... :) I'll be back soon with some projects for the January Crop Addict kit and some of my handmade Christmas gifts.

Merry Christmas!