day 2

2-24

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**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

day 1

2-23

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**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

it's a girl!!!

2-22 The birth

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we are proud to announce the birth of our daughter meredith emma born today! she is a happy, alert, and healthy baby girl! we are so proud of her already! she is just so ambitious.... she broke her water just shy of her 39th week of gestation. she had only just started to descend into the pelvis for birth just a few days ago and really hadn't gotten far enough down. she must have been just too excited to come out and meet us. at the hospital daddy coached mommy through natural childbirth (no pain medication) just as we had planned.

progress was being made on all fronts except little meredith's head was just not cooperating. she wouldn't budge even after 18hrs of labor! mommy and daddy were then just too excited to have her out and in our arms so we decided that it was the best choice to go with a cesarean birth as the grand finale (there is only so much time that they will give you to deliver the baby in a hospital.)

the procedure was quick and we were able to both see her birth through a mirror in the operating room. the moment was very surreal.

we actually have a baby girl, a daughter, we are parents!!!! hurrray!!!!

through all of the joy we heard the doctor say that little meredith had been trying to get out with her head facing my belly instead of my back.... she chose the slowest and most time-consuming way to come out.

alas, her method was revealed! i had no idea that i had been in back labor throughout the day, but daddy suspected it because i required almost constant back massages during his coaching. mmmmmm back massages.

isn't life just wonderful? this is soooo amazing that we have brought a wonderful little person into this world. thank you God for the most wonderful hubby and baby for me!

guessing game

it is still fun to be preggo at 38 weeks except for one thing, 'she is pinching me.'

i actually felt that this pinching was a urinary tract infection.... but the doctors have now assured me (and the proper lab work of course) that i am just experiencing the magical moment of our little girl's head descending into the pelvis. wow. i was wondering when and how that would feel, but this pinching feeling has really thrown me off guard. i am actually USING my relaxation techniques to cope with the pinching. is this our girl's little way of preparing mommy for an easy labor? let's hope so!

and then that brings me to the whole reason for this post today. let's get some guesses in for baby's due date, weight, and length!

you can post your guess as a comment to this post or sign the guest book with your guess. so far we have only had cousin hope and daddy respond to the guessing request from the right hand column titled 'baby predictor.' (see what they think in the guestbook.)

i was just asking baby's grandma s for her guess and here is hers:
birthdate : 3-2-7
weight: 7.8-8lbs
length: 21 inches