Baby Sparky is here!!

I know I'm beyond late posting these or any pictures of the new munchkin. That's what happens when your husband and all your stuff (including computers with photo processing programs) move across the country six days after your baby is born. But better late than never, right?

Baby Sparky was born on July 7, 2008. She weighed 9lbs, 40z, and was 21.5 inches.

The hubby and I went to my doctor appointment on Monday afternoon, with hopes of being induced on Thursday. My doctor wanted to do an amnio before authorizing an induction on Thursday, because I would have only been 38.5 weeks, and she's not comfortable inducing before 39 weeks. However, when she found out I was dilated to a 6 (and I never felt *any* contractions), she decided that performing an amnio would probably break my water, so she sent us over to labor and delivery, instead.

After a little bit of confusion (I thought she wanted us to go downstairs for an ultrasound, but the hubby heard correctly that she wanted us to go to L&D), we went home to gather a few things and came back to the hospital. I got hooked up to all the monitors, almost blacked out when MOTHER started my IV, and then we waited a while for the anesthesiologist. They started me on Pitocin, and I still didn't feel any contractions (weird, I know), but I got the epidural anyway, because I know what a wimp I am (hello, blacking out because of an IV), and I didn't want to feel too much when the epidural was no longer an option.

A few hours after the Pitocin, MOTHER told us we were ready to have a baby. I pushed through a couple of contractions, and then the doctor was holding our new little baby girl. She was rather purple and her blood sugar was pretty low so we had to give her a bottle pretty quickly, but she was healthy and we are all thrilled with her (and her red hair - thanks grandpas).

The Princess is really excited to be a big sister. At the same time, it's a pretty big adjustment to go from being an only child to suddenly having a baby sister who takes up all of mommy's time. In addition to that major change, we moved out of our apartment right after Sparky was born, and a week later, Daddy moved across the country. So we're working on some behavioral issues at the moment. Some days are better than others, but she's doing well, all things considered.

Sparky isn't letting me get any sleep, and she's not allowing me to get anything done during the day. She doesn't sleep well at all, and wants to be held all day long, and she's a REALLY lazy eater, so she thinks she's starving every 2 hours or so. We're also trying to get through some reflux issues. But I'm counting down the days until I get to our new home and DH can help with the night shift. And I'm trying to remember that she won't be a newborn forever and eventually I'll get to sleep again. I hope.

I'll work on getting more pictures posted in the next couple weeks. I have *tons* of pictures. These images are all from my point and shoot. Eventually I'll have my computer up and running and I can post my *real* pictures as well as send out birth announcements (again, better late than never).

See? She really was 9lbs 4oz. No wonder I couldn't walk those last few weeks...

Proud Daddy!

The Princess wasn't entirely sure what to think that first night.

Bath time!

Those purple hands and feet didn't go away for a long time. She still has old lady circulation.

Time to go home!