Day 2

Hello!

I'm writing from the hospital. We will be going home tomorrow morning before 8:00. Sarah's brother Mike is letting us borrow his computer. I'm really grateful.

We feel so happy to have Ellie join us. We're glad that she has such a loving extended family.

Mom and baby are still doing very well. Sare mentioned that she is in a fair amount of pain. The postpartum contractions are what's bothering her, but she has been dealing with them well. She's trying to sleep while I hold Ellie and try to type with one hand.

We met Dr. Kendall today. She is Ellie's pediatrician. We thought she was delightful, helpful, and professional. She said Ellie was doing great, a bit jaundiced, but not more than normal.

The muconium diapers are a sinch. I'm trying to enjoy the lack of odor while I can. Feeding is still going just fine. Sarah saw a lactation specialist today just to make sure. It helped a bit, but Sarah and Ellie had already figured out most of it on their own.

Barb and Sarah think they saw dimples last night. They are also suspecting curly hair. We look forward to seeing some smiles soon.

We were very grateful to have Barbru back at the hospital today. We have been feeling like the nursery is just too far away and there are just too many babies around for Ellie to get the kind of attention we want her to get. Of course, that has meant that we have not slept much. It was nice to finally get a couple solid hours in this afternoon. Sarah is still sleeping off and on, but usually not more than an hour at a time. We're going to try to get what we can while we can because we know sleep will be hard to come by in the next several weeks.

Our love to all of you.

Meet Ellie Babcock

8 lbs 1 oz.
19.5 inches
Born 2:57 a.m. on 1/28/09

Mom and baby are both doing very well. Sare went into active labor at about 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and was admitted to the hospital at 4:30. Upon examination we learned that she was dilated to about 4cm. She received an epidural soon after admittance and gradually progressed (with the help of pitocin) to a 10 at about 12:30 am. After that she just waited a bit in order to "rest and descend." At 2:30 the nurses came in to set up all the gear. The doctor showed up at about 2:45. After some foreceps, an episiotomy, and some amazingly powerful pushing from Sarah, Ellie left the womb to begin her mortal experience. She produced the most beautiful, piercing cry. It was gentle, but intense. It came up into my ears and out my eyes. Her messy little body looked so perfect. She looked so innocent. A couple of the nurses remarked that her lungs seemed to be very strong. She and Sarah have been sleeping off and on since then and have had great success with nursing. I was able to sleep for about two hours in the afternoon, but I've spent most of my time just staring at her.

At about 8 p.m. we celebrated her 0th birthday with singing and cake. Since we couldn't light a candle in the hospital, Ben pulled out an iPhone app of a zippo lighter. Sarah and I "blew it out" after the singing. We wish all of you could have been with us to share the moment, have some cake, and meet our beautiful baby girl. We hope you enjoy the pictures. Feel free to call.

Waiting...still.

For those of you who may not know, the doctor gave us the option of inducing this Wednesday. We talked to a lot of people, prayed and discussed it. We've decided not to induce. We feel that is best. Let the baby come when she is full ready.

The waiting game is hard, but we know it will be worth it. Thanks for all your support and input.

Update on Us

We sent emails out and made a few calls, but we wanted to make sure that everyone knew the latest news. We went to the doctor last Tuesday and found out that Sarah is about 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. The doctor said that sometime in the next two weeks we'd have a new baby. It's now Sunday and we are getting more and more excited. We have another appointment on Tuesday to see/track progress, but it could happen at any time. - Hopefully soon. :)