Well we did it! Juliette Christine Lindsey arrived at 5:43 AM on Saturday the 22nd (her due date). Mike and I checked into the hospital at about 10 o'clock Friday night after I had been having contractions 5 min apart for an hour and a half. We are very thankful to our friends Mark and Lisa for helping. Lisa stayed at the house with Gretchen while Mark picked up my Mom from the airport.
I have to say laboring through the night was pretty tiresome! I elected to have an epidural since I was feeling worn out from a cold. The epidural block ended up being very light, so I ended up being able to feel all the "pressure" of child birth but no "pain." It was a beautiful labor and Juliette arrived alert, red, and very cheesy. She was 7lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.
Gretchen and Grandma came in the next day to visit. Typically Gretchen is not shy with babies, but she was pretty tentative with Juliette. One of the Nurse's asked her what she thought about her new baby sister and she replied, "I don't know." Pretty funny stuff. She perked up the next day though and would only talk about going to see "baby Duwiette" until she got to the hospital where she didn't hesitate to shower her with kisses and loves.
