Aislin Elizabeth is here!

Aisy Daisy
Originally uploaded by epmdesigner.

It's been a whirlwind week. It all started at 2:42 am Monday morning. That's when I started counting contractions. About 20 minutes (and A LOT of pain later) I woke up Pete and told him we'd better mobilize. We packed and at 3:45 am we called the doctor. Since the contractions had been less than 4 minutes apart for more than an hour he told us to come to the hospital.

Lucky for us, Pete's Mom had been visiting with us for the weekend and was staying over until Monday morning! Perfect, we didn't need to wake any of our neighbors and friends with a really late night call to come over ad watch Leah. We called my parents who started heading towards Syracuse and we were off to the hospital. We got there at about 4:15 am and checked in. The contractions were so rough I practically sat on the admission person's desk ("get me to labor and delivery!!!"). Once we were upstairs the resident examined me while we waited for the doctor.

Much to my, and to everyone else's, surprise I was 8 cm dilated!!! Too late for an epidural! When they told me that...I almost cried, and I did say "I don't think I can do this!" The nurses and resident assured me(as they scrambled to get that room ready for delivery faster than anything I've ever seen in my life!) that I could. After all, I had done much of the work already at home with no pain medication. The resident also mentioned that at 8 lbs.,15 oz....Leah had already blazed a pretty good trail and she doubted this baby would be that big at 2 1/2 weeks early (boy were we wrong!). Things were progressing fast. We didn't even have a chance to finish the admission questions and paperwork before I had to start pushing!

Once Dr. Bebla arrived my water broke and the party got started. I started pushing at 5:15 and less than 10 minutes later, at 5:24 am Aislin Elizabeth was here...all NINE POUNDS, SEVEN OUNCES of her (can you tell I'm just a little proud of myself for doing this naturally?). Pete was amazing support and the best cheerleader I could have asked for.

Once again meconium accompanied this birth, as with Leah's. I know...what are the chances of that?! Aislin was suctioned out with no problem. But she had swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid, which makes for a pretty mucous-filled baby. I got to hold her right after she was born, Pete got to cut the cord, and we snatched a few cuddles with her before she was taken to the NICU (more on that in the entry below). She left the hospital today after losing only 5 ounces so she's still large and in charge at 9lbs, 2 ounces today.

We chose her Irish name, Aislin, which means "dream" or "vision" in Gaelic. It seems to fit her perfectly. She is a mellow, sweet, and dreamy girl...who already has a perfected pout (which cracked the NICU nurses up!) and is already being put to good use on her Daddy. Just look at that face. The nurses on the maternity ward also mentioned her little "growl" which she showed off whenever they let Aislin know they were going to test her blood-sugar. Her personality is already starting to take shape!!! We love you Aislin!!!!