Welcome Amelia Marie!

After much anticipation, I'm proud to announce that she has arrived!!! After my last rant of a post I decided to shower and get ready for the long wait of the next day. To my surprise, the hospital called at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday night and said that they could get me in at 11:00 p.m. Even though we had had a long day we decided to go. We rushed to get everything ready and hurried on down to the hospital. They checked and found that I was still dilated to a 3. Really?! I was so surprised that I hadn't made any progress since the week before. Who knows how long she would have stayed in there if we hadn't hurried her along?! They started the pitocin pretty quickly and the doctor broke my water at about 1:30 a.m. I decided if I was going to get an epidural that I may as well get it going. Why put myself through any more pain than absolutely necessary? Then we just hung out and tried to get some rest. I was surprised at how relaxing the night went - I'm sure the epidural helped out a lot! I might consider going through labor again just to experience that! They checked me at 5:15 a.m. and found that I was dilated to an 8. At 5:30 a.m. they checked again and I was fully dilated and ready to go. The doctor arrived shortly after that and with everything set up, I began pushing. Seven pushes later, at 6:00 a.m., she was here! What a difference from the pushing that I did with Lincoln (over an hour). It was so amazing to watch her come into this world. Oddly, it was such a peaceful experience. I could feel pressure but I couldn't feel the pain. I was able to really push but still watch in the mirror as she came out. Amazing!!!

Lincoln showed up later that day to meet his new little sister. My Mom put him down at the door and he just cruised around the room grinning for a few minutes. He finally came over to the side of my bed and when Derek picked him up so he could see Amelia, he looked at her and then up at me. I think he still hasn't quite grasped what is going on but I'm sure he will really notice something is different when all of our visitors are gone and Derek is back to work and it's just me, him and Amelia. It should be interesting.

This is us with Doctor Lochner. She is such a fun person and I'm so glad that I was able to have her deliver both of our kids. I know it's probably silly but I admire her so much and feel such a closeness to her. She's the best!

Once again Derek changed the first diaper. He's such a great Dad and always willing to do the dirty work (while I sit back, relax, and take pictures!).

Luckily, all of the grandparents were able to come and visit. Here is my Dad and Stepmom with Lincoln and Amelia. This is grandbaby #8 for them!

This is Derek's parents with Amelia. This is grandbaby #6 for them and the first granddaughter!

This is my Mom and Stepdad. My Mom was able to be in the room during delivery. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get here in time for Lincoln's birth so it was pretty exciting when she could make it for Amelia. This is grandbaby # 2 for them!

And here is our little peach Amelia. She is so beautiful and has so much hair! We're not quite sure where it all came from but I am loving it! She ended up being 6lbs. even. She's such a petite little thing and I love to snuggle her. I love her new baby smell!

We had pretty much decided on naming her Savannah but we still couldn't officially make a decision when she arrived. I thought she looked more like an Amelia because of her dark hair and Derek was nice enough to let me pick ( I think he was sick of me bugging him). I'm sure I'll never here the end of it, but it's worth it! I have my little Amelia now!