Booke~now 3 weeks old!

I am remembering vividly tonight Brooke's birth. It was exactly 3 weeks ago tonight that we headed for the hospital hoping that she would arrive soon and safely and that we would make it to the hospital! :) We did, thank goodness.

I had been having contractions every 10 minutes on and off all day Saturday (and Friday, but they went away during the night). The weren't getting any closer together, but by evening they had gotten more uncomfortable. I wasn't having as much back labor as I did with the other girls so it was nice to be able to time the contractions. We started putting the kids to bed and I was figuring out in my head who I would call at 2 am so we could go to the hospital. However, at 8:15 pm, when I was putting Carli to bed I had a really painful contraction and then 5 minutes later I had another one. Got her down and went and sat in one of the chairs in the game room. They kept coming at 5 minutes apart. About 9 pm they were still coming on strong every 5 minutes so we decided we better get going to the hospital since it was a bit of a drive. We called one of my good friends here and she was going to come right over so we could head out asap. We called another friend to come take over for her and stay the night with the kids. They were all asleep so that was nice and I was glad we weren't having to call someone in the middle of the night (which we had done with 2 of the other girls). I hate having to impose on people, especially when they are asleep. :)

When we got to the hospital at 10 pm they checked me and I was 3-4 and about 70 % effaced. Not much progress since my appointment the Monday before, but I hadn't been effaced at all so that was something, anyway. They hooked me all up while they watched everything and filled out paperwork, asked a billion questions, etc. A half hour later they said they were admitting me (who would send home a mom having her 5th child and would probably go quickly--smart move on their part) and took us to a real room. The dr. on call (not my dr--didn't see him at all during the whole hospital stay) came in and checked me. I had been there for 45 minutes by now and I was up to almost 5 cm. They pretty much left us alone in the room and said to call if anything changes or I start feeling pressure. The contractions continued to get stronger and closer together.

About and hour later, around 11:40 pm, I was feeling REALLY uncomfortable and hurting and started feeling quite a bit of pressure. Ben called the nurse in and she called the dr. in. I was 9 cm with just a little lip left, but baby was not coming down very well. My water still hadn't broken so he went ahead and broke it, but that lip still stuck there. This baby's head was a bit bigger than the other kiddos (except Brandon) so I had to push a bit more to get her into the world than I did with the other girls. We were hoping she would hold on until after midnight so we could have a February birthday in our family (silly, I know) and sure enough, she did. I started really pushing at 12:15 and she was born at 12:29 am. So, we made it to the hospital in time with 2 1/2 hours to spare (if you know my history you'll know why this is significant--if not, we barely made it in time for Kate and Megan and were glad they weren't born in the car). Brooke was perfect with apgars of 9 and 9 and was just so beautiful! We are excited to have another redhead in the family as well (thankfully, so far she doesn't seen to have the temperment of a typical redhead).

Brooke was my 4th med-free natural birth and let me tell you, I am not planning on doing it again. I know it's still fresh in my mind, but seriously, I do not want to go through that again. Why not get an epidural, you ask? I had one with Brandon and it just caused all kinds of problems with me so I did not want to take the chance of having all those complications again. The recovery has been a little slower with Brooke than with the other girls, but still not too bad. I am doing well and Brooke is just fabulous. We are all so in love with this little baby girl!

Here is what I have loved and enjoyed about Brooke so far:

*I love how when I pick her up her little body does the little s-t-r-e-t-c-h and scrunch. So cute!

*I love the way she smells. So yummy--the smell of heaven, I'm sure.

*I love her trying to focus on my face and how her eyes cross when she tries really hard.

*I love her fuzzy red hair.

*I love her "smiles." Seriously, she really does smile. :)

*I love her pointy little ears.

*I love her tiny fingers and toes.

*I love her adorable little nose.

*I love when she falls asleep on my shoulder or chest. She is so snuggly and sweet.

*I love to just sit and hold her and enjoy her being so tiny.