Adaleigh Jane Low is here!!!!

She is here!!! I did it!!! YAY!!

May 5th (one week ago today!) we went in for the induction. They put the gel in about 9 A.M. I had annoying cramps and some contractions but nothing regular and consistent, so at 11:30 A.M. they broke my water. I was a bit nervous for this because I remember that after they do that things really intensify and there is NO TURNING BACK! ;) And they did, but they were still pretty irregular, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, sometimes really painful, sometimes not. I could tell that my nurse didn't really think it was working too well because she said I looked too comfortable still (I was sitting on a birthing ball, laying back on Justin with my feet up on the bed...yeah, I guess it looked pretty comfy. Looks can be deceiving though...) and they weren't regular enough. If that didn't work they would start the drip at 3:00 to make things stronger and more consistent. Things were getting a bit more intense so I got on the bed on my side for a bit. Well, she went on her coffee break and got called back because at about 2:15 I was kinda feeling the urge to push. It was much different than Zach's induction was. I had the drip for his all morning long. It was intense enough, but not like I remembered Zach's being. I remember being mind blown about how hard my body was working to get Zach out. I kinda doubted my feelings of needing to push this time, because it didn't feel strong enough, but I had a few times where I thought I needed to push or go to the bathroom or something so I told Justin to go get the nurse to check. Another nurse had to come in and check since mine had just gone on break thinking it would be a long time. She said "no wonder you need to push, you are complete, ready to go!" I was SOOO happy to hear this because going into this delivery I didn't know if I could do it or not without the epidural. If I still had a ways to go, I think I may have caved and gotten one. I am not against epidurals at all, I just didn't have the best experience with one last time. This time if I had back labor or had to be induced and was hating it I was going to get one, but I am so glad I didn't! I had a relatively quick labor once things started happening and I didn't have an I.V. or continuous monitoring or anything. It was pretty freeing. I could move where and when I wanted to, walk around, labor on the birthing ball, go to the bathroom, with no strings attached. :) Not that is was fun or anything. It still was uncomfortable, but it was MUCH better (and quicker!) than Zach's induction and labor. My nurse came back and my doctor had gone home, but she lives close so she made it back too. I probably pushed for 5-10 minutes and then she FINALLY came out at 2:25 p.m. I say finally not because it took a long time, but because I felt like I pushed way more than I should have had to! The girls came out SO easy, tiny little 6 1/2 pounders. Adaleigh felt like she was just stuck! They kept telling me to push, a little push, push...and all I can think was "Seriously?! Still? She should be out by now! I am pushing!" That was another thing, pushing her out I felt like my contractions weren't working with me to push her out. They were strong when I was laying on my side, but when they had me roll on my back they didn't feel as strong. And I didn't have a mirror. They didn't have one! I like to see my progress with any peek I could take. Bummer. Anyway, she came out! All 9 lbs 4 oz, 21 1/4 inches of her. And she felt that big! And I hope I never have any baby bigger than that! :) But man I felt SO GOOD afterward!! Such a relief, SO HAPPY, and so excited to meet our little Miss Adaleigh Jane. :) And the funny thing is, the day before delivery I looked at the clock at 2:23 p.m. and thought "Tomorrow at this time I could be having my baby!!" I was right!

 LAST PREGO PICTURE!! 41 weeks.

Hallelujah!

Here she is!! The nice thing about overdue babies is they are nice and clean! No cheesy white vernix all over them. I didn't hold her right when they pulled her out, and I kinda regret it, but I kinda don't because then they can quickly do their thing and I can hold my baby and not have them take her away again. :)

And here is her placenta. :) I know you were all dying to see this. My mom was shocked when she saw I was putting this on here. But it is my blog and I think it is cool! And yes, I have pictures of all of my babies placentas. :) The nursey side of me I guess.

 (And no I don't keep it or cook it or bury it.)

Look at those LONG toes!

Minutes after, just meeting our baby Adaleigh. :)

I was SO happy and felt SO good. It was great to just see and feel her out of me.

Justin's mom was in on the delivery too. She delivered 8 babies of her own, but hadn't ever seen a birth. Hopefully I didn't scare her. I was quite vocal pushing that big head out. :)

Proud daddy and professional birthing coach. Funny when labor feels like a date! Quiet alone time with just you and your hubby...and his mom, but she was quiet too. :)

"Hungry? Why Wait? Grab a Snickers."

Sorry, just had to do that! I could hear the snicker's commercials while I ate it. I was laboring all morning and they were bringing food in but I did not want to eat. Justin showed me this right after delivering and I thought "Why not?! Yes please!" :) Maybe this could be their next ad campaign. :)

And yes, we had a rain/snow storm while I was in labor and the rest of the day. Very wet snow. Crazy!! We will always remember that it snowed on her birthday though! May 5th. Crazy Canada.

The kids got to come meet Adaleigh 2 hrs after she was born. This was one of the funnest parts of the day, watching the kids meet their sister for the first time. Justin's dad was at home with them while they napped and then brought them to the hospital. Thanks for watching the crew Brian!

Kara has been so excited for this baby. She is a little mother. She was so excited that Adaleigh finally came out!

I love this picture of Kate. She was so happy and just wanted to hold her, but not touch her hair because it was dirty (hadn't been bathed yet!). When it was time for them to go she almost cried because she didn't want to leave the baby! We told her we were bringing her home and she could see her there. She was okay with that and left happy.

Zach was so funny and cute when he met her. He kept saying the funniest things. We got it on video, but I don't know how to downsize the video from our big camera.

And proud grandpa with his 4th new granddaughter THIS YEAR! Within the last 6 weeks 4 grand girls have been born to Joanie, two to Julie, and our little Adaleigh! Lucky Cousins! And on my side we have had 3 born in the last 6 weeks too! Cannon, Adaleigh, and 3 days later tiny Aleia.

We are a happy family. :)

She loved her bath, can't you tell?? Poor girl. She was SO reactive at the hospital. She didn't like to be bothered at all. And they bothered her/us A LOT! Since she was over 9 lbs they said they had to check her blood sugars 3 times just to make sure she was okay. that meant 3 heel pricks after her shot that she had already been given, oh yeah and then add in the other routine testing they do that they had to do 2 more heel pokes with all within 24 hrs. :( So delivery, 5 heel pricks and squeezes, and a shot. I know it is all for their good, but it was so sad. What a welcome to the world!

:)

Post bath. Look at that hair! :) She looks so different than our other babies. I may finally have one that looks like me! My mom says she reminds her a lot of me as a baby. Justin's nose, but the rest may be me! I never thought the "Low" genes could be dominated. We will see! Good timing though since she is semi named after me. We liked the nick name Addy/Addie and my middle name is Leigh (pronounced Lee) so we just stuck them together. Adaleigh. Jane is just a cute name that I have always loved and I thought it went really beautifully with Adaleigh.

Hospital time was special. It was just me and her for a lot of it. Justin came back in the morning and we all just hung out. It was quiet and nice. As fun as it was having twins, I am LOVING just doting on one. Looking back, twins were a lot of work! Double duty! So if you are going to have twins, just have them first. That's my advice. :)

Our hospital visitors...Justin's cousin's Jaclyn (with her fiance Justin) and Annalee Jean holding Adaleigh Jane! Pretty crazy hey? Too bad Addy (Addie? Hmmm...) wasn't born 6 days earlier, it would have been on Annalee's birthday!

Time to go home!! Poor girl looks beat up! She started getting tons of red marks all over her face and body. :( We weren't sure what it was from either the linens, her clothes, or a common rash 50% of full term newborns get...erythema toxicum neonatorum.

Ready to go!

A bit after we got home Barb came over!! She happened to be in Raymond for the weekend so she stopped by to visit!! Thanks Barb!! I miss you!!

Check out that double chin. More like saggy skin chin.

Adaleigh got the girls these sweet glasses. :)

And rocket balloons for her big brother!

Mer Mer (my mom) came to visit on Wednesday! Justin took Kate and Kara to pick her up in Great Falls. Mom said they were so cute with their signs.

Zach loves his little sister. I love watching him with her. He comes up to her and says "Hello girl. Hi cutie!" in a baby voice. I have loved the ages of the kids. They actually understand and know what is going on.

Milk drunk. I love being able to practically induce a coma just by feeding my baby. :) And that nasty cord was so stinky. I kept belly shirts on her just trying to help it dry out so we could be rid of it!! Yuck! Every time Zach walked past her and saw it he said "Eeew...it's still there."

 It worked! The next day (when she was 6 days old) it fell off! YAY!! I had a scary experience though...I had put a bran muffin with raisins in the microwave and took it out to eat it, picked up a raisin that fell from my plate and popped it in my mouth...then spit it out.

It was a raisin. Luckily. :)

 What a cute little belly button. Zach was right. Cords make belly buttons. :)

We had a delicious BBQ outside. Spring is a good time to have a baby. :)

She loved the pineapple.

Mer Mer giving Adaleigh her first post stinky cord bath.

Adaleigh likes to be home. We like her her here too.

She is a very smiley baby. Like REAL smiles. She looks at me and smiles. I love it.