She's Here!

We welcomed our little Eden Chloe into the world on Monday, December 7th. We are so excited that she is finally here, and we are all adjusting to life as a family of 5. Eden was born at 3:28pm and weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces (our tiniest baby by about a pound), and was 20 inches long.

Here are the details, so feel free to skip this paragraph if you aren't interested:

We were scheduled to go in for an induction on Sunday, December 6th at 9pm. We called just before to make sure they had a bed available for me, and luckily they were between waves of deliveries, so there was. Dave's mom Cheryl came over to stay with Brynn and Collin, and off we went. Once at the hospital, we got checked in and set up in a room. Around 11:30pm, they put in the Cervadil to soften things up and told me to get some sleep. I was completely exhausted already, since I had only had 3 hours of sleep the previous night, but somehow I only managed about 3 hours that night as well. Around 7:30 Monday morning, they removed the Cervadil and told me to order breakfast because they were going to start the pitocin. Shortly after, my OB came by and broke my water and the pitocin was started. Luckily my nurse let me have a bit of breakfast any way. The next several hours went by as my contractions grew increasingly intense. I finally asked for the epidural late that morning and was told there was another mom wanting hers right then too. I told the nurse I would wait until after the other girl got an epidural and then I would have mine. I was told it wouldn't take long, but apparently that means around an hour. When it was finally my turn for the epidural, they said I could only have one other person in the room. Dave graciously (insert sarcasm) volunteered to let my mom be the one to stay in the room. I actually didn't mind, since I was still remembering the 1st time I had an epidural and him yelling "Wow, that thing is huge!" about the needle/tube that I was trying to pretend wasn't being shoved in my spine. Let's just say that staying calm in any kind of medical situation is not really Dave's thing. After the epidural, I was resting comfortably for awhile. Then I started feeling the contractions a bit. It was weird, because my left leg and bum were completely numb, but the left half of my stomach started to feel every contraction. Not fun! As it got progressively worse, the anesthesiologist was called back in and I was given some more pain meds. Of course, that was all right around the time that they told me I was dialated to a 10 and it was time for the baby to come. Yikes! Luckily (?) there happened to be another wave of deliveries and it took what seemed like forever for the nurses to get everything set up. In fact, the nurses that helped in the delivery weren't even my nurses, since mine were having to deliver another baby at the same time. Just as the new pain meds were kicking in, my OB came in and it was time to evict our sweet little girl from my warm cozy belly. After pushing through only 3 or so contractions, Eden was born.

The first thing I noticed about her was that she had dark hair, and much more of it than our other kids had when they were born. She was also so much smaller than they were. She had little eyebrows and cute squishy cheeks. So cute! What a crazy rush of emotions it is to have a baby! We are so happy and excited! Dave immediately started taking a ton of pictures and video of her, and posting them for our friends and family to see. Definitely a proud dad! I was in a daze of happiness, relief, and exhaustion, as well as overwhelmed by now being responsible for another little human being.

Eden has been such a joy. She is a good baby, and doesn't cry very often, unless she is hungry or has a tummy ache. She sleeps quite a bit, and loves to be held. Her brother and sister are doing pretty good with her too. When they first met her, Brynn immediately wanted to hold her and kept smiling and telling Eden how beautiful she is. She couldn't stop kissing Eden's little velvet head. Collin kept getting in Eden's face, and yelling "Hi, Baby Eden!". Then he would do the same to my tummy. After a few explanations that there is no longer a baby in my tummy, he would continue to say shout it to Eden. Since then, Brynn has staked her claim on the baby, and wants to hold her throughout the day. Collin is somewhat indifferent, but likes to give her her pacifier when she cries. He does tell me to put her down, so he can get on my lap sometimes. Poor guy just got bumped from his role as the "baby" of the family. Despite the sleepless nights, messy house, and feeling claustrophobic from having to remain housebound, we are doing well. I am excited to see how this new little one will be as she gets older. I can't wait to see the personality she develops and the friendships she will have with her siblings. We really feel so blessed to have been given our little Miracle #3!

Meeting my new little one (I am just going to hope/pretend that my double chin is simply a result of the positioning of my head)...
My mom with her newest grandchild (#7)...
My Dad and Eden...
I need to add a picture of Dave's mom with Eden at the hospital. The pictures of her are on Dave's camera and I haven't uploaded his pictures yet (these are all ones my mom took).

My Grandpa L meets Eden...
Grandma Bertha with the baby...
Eden meets her brother and sister...
They were so curious about everything, including her "weird belly button". After inspecting Eden's, they both had to show me that they didn't have an umbilical cord like Eden.
Lots of kisses for the baby...
The kids presenting their gift to Eden. They had made her a unicorn at Build-A-Bear a few weeks earlier to give Eden. Eden had presents for them as well. Brynn received a new doll with doll clothes and accessories, while Collin got a stuffed dog from Build-A-Bear.