Miss Anna Jane

She's here. And she is so very little.

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday morning (Nov. 29th) at 6:30 am. In an effort to hold off labor until then and give my sweet parents-in-law a chance to drive up here from Arkansas, I had been parked on the couch for a full 4 days, watching an entire season of Australian Masterchef on my laptop (Those Aussies don't mess around. There are 86 episodes per season). It was great....for a while, but soon it was miserable and boring and made me feel unproductive and gross. The highlight was when I asked Megan to put something away and she took one good look at me and said (unashamedly) "Mom...you are very lazy". It hurt my feelings and I tried to defend myself, but I had to admit I could see where she was coming from. I WAS very lazy.

Joe and Jean arrived Sunday evening and we had a nice time visiting and having dinner with the kids. I have to admit I was feeling a bit achy, although nervous about being induced, ready to get on with the show.

We all went to bed and I commenced dreaming that I was being bitten by snakes and enduring other painful situations...all centered around my humongous belly. About 2 am I finally woke up enough to realize that the pain was not merely a dream. After watching the clock for 5 minutes and clocking two solid contractions, I knew it had happened again. For the third time, I had managed to go into labor approximately 4 hours before I was scheduled for my induction. The other two pregnancies were natural, so those are pretty consistent stats, no?

Feeling very motivated to get an epidural, we alerted Grandma Jean that we were on our way and we headed to the hospital. It was only 5 minutes away and we were blessed with a nurse that believed me when I told her I go FAST. She busted through the paperwork, started the IV, did the labwork and paged the anesthesiologist. Here's a picture:

It looks like I'm saying something, don't know what, but I do know that that look in my eyes is fear. FEAR! I was convinced that I was destined for some major pain.



He took his sweet time and possibly went on a donut run between being paged and showing up to give me sweet relief, but I will forever honor his name because HE MADE IT! And it was awesome.

I took a little nap and poor Mark (very sick with a head cold) fell asleep in the rocking chair. The labor slowed way down and the nurse gave me a "whiff" of pitocin. Then out of the blue, I felt something change and it was time! The doctor came in, told me to push, then immediately said, "Nevermind!" In fact, his exact words were,..."keep not pushing, keep not pushing....and she's here!"

And there she was. All wiggly and warm on my chest. With her beautiful black Hufford-baby hair and perfectly pink skin. I really didn't realize that I was getting a baby out of this whole affair. A real baby.

The nurses cleaned her up and Mark cut the cord. Then I watched as they weighed her and gave her the once over and my sweet husband started to get teary because he can't bear for his little baby to be cold and crying and there's nothing he can do. I love that...he does it every time. I'm crying because he's crying because she's crying.

6 lbs. 11 oz.

She was born at 9:09 am and by lunchtime, she was already reigning supreme over her loyal subjects.

Megan and Laney came with Grandma and Grandpa after Kindergarten was over. I love this photo because of the look Meg is giving her dad. She isn't quite sure what to do with this little baby, but she knows where she can find reassurance.


Laney wasn't sure about it, but once Megan had taken a turn, she was ready to go.


Grandpa kept a distance because he was fighting a cold too. Grandma took a turn, and I couldn't resist picking this photo because it captures one of Mark's scary coughing fits. Poor guy. Nothing like welcoming a brand new baby and feeling like walking death. Although, now that I look at it, I can't help but be impressed with the steadiness in which he maintains his iphone usage during a wracking cough. Those are mad skilz.


Later on, Mark brought the boys and they were instantly in love.



They each held her at least 5 or 6 times before it was time to go. Barely giving the other a chance to get her settled in his arms before saying, "Ok. My turn!"

After that we settled in for the night from he_ _. I will never understand why there is always that one nurse that seems angry at the world and dead set on taking it out on the unsuspecting new moms in the maternity ward. She would bust into my room every couple of hours insisting on waking us both up and taking our "vitals". She would quiz me about when the baby had last eaten or pooped, eying me suspiciously and making me feel like a liar. It was a long night and although I was supposed to be there for another 24 hours, I wasn't about to go through that again. We headed home the next day and were greeted by hot chicken enchiladas and a beautiful green salad (a rarity around here).

And for dessert...a birthday cake! Joe and Jean were ready to celebrate Anna's birthday. Can you get any more thoughtful? I think not!

Thanks, Sarah, for the beautiful flowers! It was so fun to have someone come to my room with flowers for me. It really made me feel special. And they are perfect. Just what I would have chosen.

So there she is! We love her and we can't get enough of her sweet little face.