Week One

Hard to believe that our little girl is one week old! She made her grand entrance on January 17 at 8:45 pm weighing 6lbs 9oz. But I'll begin from the beginning...

We went to the hospital Saturday the 17th at 6am to be induced. The induction was going very well and was rather peaceful in the morning. The nurses were pumping me full of pitocin and I was having plenty of contractions, but I was comfortable. Unfortunately, I wasn't dilating very quickly. Finally, after lunch, I dilated to 3cm and they broke my water. Well, that was the end of the peaceful labor process. They ordered an epidural for me and by the time the anesthesiologist arrived, I was in a lot of pain. The epidural was an ordeal because they couldn't seem to get the right concoction to relieve the pain and they had to stop each time I had a contraction. Meanwhile, my contractions began coming extremely fast. They were only seconds apart, so I could barely catch my breath and I'd have another one. The nurses cut back the pitocin, but it didn't seem to slow the contractions down.
Finally, the anesthesiologist put something in the epidural that really took the edge off and I was still able to feel the pain but wasn't miserable. The next hour and a half was more calm, and I listened to a meditation CD and tried to get some rest. When the doctor came to check me, I was dilated to 9cm (in an hour and a half!!). She said she was going to go down the street to get Chic-fil-A for dinner and would be back to deliver the baby shortly. That sounded fine to me, but our family in the waiting room was a little worried that she was leaving when I was so close. She got back in plenty of time to deliver the baby. :)
The delivery was not easy and Ansley was almost too big for me to deliver, but I was never panicked or worried. I know that most of that was because Daniel was so calm. I was 'in the zone' but a bystander could see that the process wasn't going smoothly. Daniel just held my hand, kissed my forehead and gave me as many ice chips as I could possibly need. Finally, Ansley made her arrival and was whisked over to the nursery nurses in the room. That is when I saw Daniel start to get worried. He kept asking if she was okay, but didn't want to leave my side either. Ansley was fine, but needed a little oxygen and had to have some fluid sucked out of her lungs. She had an abrasion on her head from the suction used in delivery, but was an overall healthy little girl. After a few minutes, they handed her to me and I was able to hold her for the first time. Words cannot express the feelings I had at that moment.
Since then, we've been adjusting to life with a newborn!! We've made one frantic visit to the pediatrician when she hadn't had a wet diaper in 36 hours, but after some supplements, she is doing better. She was down to 6lbs 1.5oz then, but has since climbed back up to 6lbs 5oz. We hope that by next week she'll be back to her birth weight. Thankfully, eating is not a problem for her. In fact, last night she fed almost non-stop from 11:30 until 4:15. Daniel and I wish she'd sleep a little more, but we know that will come with time. We're hoping that it will be sooner than later!
On Friday Ansley had her first photo shoot. Amanda from Westhart photography took the beautiful photos you see here. You can also check out her website at www.westhartphotography.com . Amanda is a local photographer based out of the Greenville/Upstate area. She not only takes the photos but also designs the baby announcements. She came to our home to take these photos and was so patient and kind. She works around the baby's schedule and stays as long as she needs to in order to get the photos. We cannot wait to have more photos taken!