Babiesville, yo

Guess I spoke too soon, as I technically started labor about three hours after my last post. And now look: I've got a baby!

She's very healthy and very sweet and has the most lovable, expressive little round face. Lots of dark hair, too. She's tall and thin, like her brother, but more so. Her bum, legs, and feet are alienishly skinny. Big hands with long, thin fingers. Big happy eyes.

Blessedly, gratefully, painfully, the VBAC worked. This baby came out the good old-fashioned way. We went in for a regular appointment at 8 on Monday morning, they said I was pretty well on my way to giving birth, and so we stayed; she came out at 8 that night. I did opt for the epidural, and thank goodness I did, as the subsequent hours were about the only sleep I'd had after two solid nights of contractions. There was lots of embarrassment to be had - or there would be, if my pride wasn't trumped by my pain - between the vomiting and the accidental push of the "Absolute Emergency" button, which resulted in about fifty people rushing into my delivery room at once. It wasn't a flawless performance on my part, either - I had moments where I wasn't sure I could do it, and the baby's heart rate dropped to an almost alarming low at multiple points, but in the end everything was just fine.

I'll have you know that Andy was a star. He knew just the right things to do and say to calm me, comfort me, and make me laugh. He was strong, positive, and optimistic, which is just what I needed. He's also the only reason I ate any food last week, and he can cheer up Corryn faster than anything else. He's gone right now, which is sad, but I'll see him again on Tuesday, which is good.

Elliot was in the care of his doting grandmother while we were in the hospital, and I think that helped him deal with our absence - he got to stay in a place he knows with people he loves. He is by turns excited about the baby and dreadfully clingy to me. Mostly excited.

Now we go through the fun, tedious, amazing, frightening, indescribable experience of raising this little girl, day by day and night by night. Mostly by night, it seems.

In conclusion: epidurals are the stuff angels are made of.