Welcome Baby Genevieve!

Its a GIRL! Genevieve Rose arrived at 6:23am on March 8, 2013 weighing in at a hefty 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. 

We're pretty sure some of that weight gain had a little bit to do with her gigantic umbilical cord.  One of the first comments I overheard from the nursery nurses was "Oh my, that cord is huge! No wonder she's so big."  Now I don't know about any scientific basis for this hypothesis but makes sense to me.

After 40 weeks and 2 days we were so excited to finally meet our baby.  If it was up to Genevieve I think she'd stay inside of Mommy forever.  After weeks of contractions that never progressed into full blown labor and the doctor scheduling an induction for March 11, we decided to take matters into our own hands.  A mom at Colin's school suggested I get a Reflexology Induction at the Mom Spa in town.  Mimi (who had been living at our house for nearly a month waiting on our baby to arrive) offered to pay for it so we figured it couldn't hurt.  The induction consisted of an hour of stimulation on the reflex zones of the feet.  This pressure can often move things along and/or bring on labor within 48 hours and has great success rates.  The therapist also encouraged me to visualize the baby arriving.  This got me thinking that maybe my thoughts had a little to do with why Genevieve hadn't arrived yet. I was feeling anxious about having two children and feeling that Colin was so little and still needed time alone with me.  On the way home from the reflexology appointment I had a little talk with the baby letting him or her know I was ready and that he or she could come out now.

Not sure if it was the reflexology, the talk, or just coincidental timing but at 3:45am the next morning I woke up and less than three hours later Genevieve was born.  When I first woke up I was feeling nothing, went to the bathroom (a usual occurrence in the middle of the night these days) and returned to bed.  I wasn't feeling too sleepy so I began returning friend's emails in which I wrote that "absolutely nothing was happening yet!"  and then bam as soon as I finished the the last email around 4am I had a pretty intense contraction and then another one right after that.  Noticing that I was in some pretty severe pain Daddy woke up.  I still wasn't sure anything was going on and decided to go to the bathroom this time with my phone.  The contractions just kept coming and coming and without even saying anything to Daddy I called the doctor and made sure they knew we were on our way to the hospital. There was no doubt this baby was coming and coming fast! Daddy, in true Daddy fashion, began making the bed and straightening up the bedroom.  I didn't want to stop Daddy even though I felt an urgency to get to the hospital as quick as possible.  Thankfully, one look at me and Mimi had no problem opening her mouth to tell Daddy to get a move on!

We are fortunate to be just a few minutes from the hospital.  We waited for what felt like ages in the ER until we were taken to the birthing room and found out I was already 8 almost 9 centimeters. Almost identical to Colin's birth, my water was broken and in no time I was a full 9 centimeters and experiencing crazy, painful contractions.  At this point it is already 6am and I remember looking at the clock thinking I can't do this for much longer (yes I'm aware I only woke up at 4am).  Fortunately, Genevieve was on the same page as Mommy and wanted a speedy delivery.  I was very nervous to start pushing at first.  It was oh so painful with Colin and I wasn't ready for another marathon pushing session.  Once I got over that first push, I could tell right away that this time it would be different.  I learned with Colin that it was best for me to push while laying on my side.  It worked like a charm and the doctor barely even made it into the room in time before Genevieve was laying on the bed.  The doctor even had the nerve to tell Mommy she couldn't push while she took 10 hrs to put on her gloves. (Note: at first I thought this was just my imagination but as soon as the doctor left the room the first thing out of Daddy's mouth was "Could she had moved any slower!") You'll be happy to know I ignored her and basically pushed Genevieve out on my own!  There's no telling a woman birthing naturally not to push! There wasn't even time to take the bottom part of the bed off or time for the nursery nurses to make it to the room.  All that aside...I was so happy to meet my baby!

Since the nursery hadn't made it to the room, it gave Mommy and Daddy several precious moments with Genevieve.  There is some discrepancy as to who said, "It's a girl!" first.  Daddy thinks it was him after first thinking it was a boy, he says he then noticed that she had "boobs" and that he was mistaken it was actually a girl. (he's since learned that the boobs were from hormones and could have been on a girl or a boy). I think I was the first to announce it after leaning forward right after birth to see Genevieve laying on the table belly side up and definitely a girl!

Somehow we didn't get any photos of Daddy and Genevieve until our final day in the hospital.  All dressed up after returning from church.

Much happier with the pacifier! (Although she now wants nothing to do with them)

We also somehow didn't get a family shot until the second day...

Shortly after birth, Genevieve enjoyed a nice long stretch in the nursery where she got all cleaned up, complete with a mohawk.

Later that afternoon, big brother Colin came to visit his sister.  Daddy snapped a quick shot of Mommy before the little guy arrived.

So proud.

Colin was pretty overwhelmed by everything in the hospital room but was excited for the "BABY!"

First photo as a family of 4!

Genevieve was a complete doll the entire time we were in the hospital.  One of mommy's favorite things was how Genevieve would fold her fingers together oh so sweetly.

We knew right away that Genevieve liked to snuggle.  She spent almost her entire time in the hospital in the arms of Mommy.  I just couldn't get enough and loved all the time I got to spend with her.

All dressed up for the first time. Complete with a giant bow from Mimi.

Love the hand clasps!

Before heading home Daddy did a photoshoot with Genevieve just like he did with Colin.

Daddy was so helpful throughout our entire time in the hospital.  He stayed with us each night on the extremely uncomfortable chair and brought Mommy lots of food!  We are so blessed to have a perfectly healthy baby girl.