Over the Moon!

She has arrived!!! Sunday, November, 28th 2010 at 6:27PM, Eve Sophia made her glorious and dramatic debut--pretty much improving conditions around the world for everyone in general. Well, with the exception of her elder sister, who, amidst moments of doting and cooing over our new little bundle, has been feeling quite put out. Cool your jets, Little Leah, you'll soon realize there is nothing in life better than sisters.

I'll start with some pictures. She is perfect and delicious, after all.

She tipped the scales at a whooping 6lbs 7oz. So tiny.

The Turkey Sub asked immediately in her highest, sweetest voice if she could hold baby and I've never witnessed so much cheesy goodness watching her kissing her little sister's head and saying, "oooh, she's so cute!" and touching her face and loving her up a storm.

Tired Dad.

There is nothing quite so excellent and preposterous as these teeny new babes all strapped in to their huge car seats. Getting ready to head home from the hospital.

Now, for those of you who are interested, let's get down to the nitty gritty. I will say, the birth of this little one didn't turn out quite as I had planned. On Sunday morning I started having contractions and labored at home until 3:00PM, when Sam and I left Leah and Grammy at home and headed off to the hospital. To our surprise, upon arriving, I was already dilated to 6 cm. The nurse was like, "What on earth have you been doing to manage your pain?!" My response was obvious, "Well, I'm pretty much awesome."

At that point they checked me in and I immediately started shouting around for an epidural. Those of you who know me, know I don't pretend to be brave or gracious about childbirth. Which is precisely what made this next part so horrifying.

"Alright Vanessa, we've got some bad news, there's someone ahead of you for an epidural so it's going to be a bit. We can give you some intravenous meds to take the edge off in the mean time..."

My contractions were getting unbearable, so I enthusiastically agreed to any kind of relief. My midwife came in to check me before administering the pain killers... to her surprise, I was dilated to 9cm. And then, in what can only be described as the slow-motion voice of Satan, she looked at me and said,

"NOOO MEDICINE FOOOORR YYYOOOOUU!!!!"

Then she threw her head back in maniacal laughter.

At that moment, my world came crashing down around me. I didn't hold back. I shouted "WhaAAAT!?!!" and started objecting and kicking at the nurses and attempting escape.

She grabbed my face, her red eyes burning into mine, and said, "Listen to me, Vanessa! It's too late, it's not safe to take any medicine, you're having this baby right now!"

Now, I know some of you may think I'm being dramatic, but I need to make it clear that the thought of natural childbirth has always been horrifying and preposterous to me. Like, signing up to have your leg amputated without any anesthesia. Or agreeing to get punched in the face everyday. Just for fun. Like, not even a consideration. Ever. I don't care that women have done it since the beginning of time, or that our bodies were made to do it. I literally felt like I was being sentenced to torture. And there was nothing I could do about it. And I was sure my granola midwife had plotted it that way all along.

The next five minutes were so chaotic and ridiculous I can't even think about them without laughing and crying at the same time. I was angry and terrified... and still shouting out futile objections... and the next thing I knew, the table was collapsed and I screamed, "She's cooooming!!!" and then something like, "I think I'm peeing!" and in one push, one EXCRUCIATING push, this lil' Tuna came shooting out. Literally, shooting out. Like, she got air.

And then I heard her sweet little newby cry, and everything was right in the world. I felt immediately overcome with love and endorphins and everything good. And I forgave everyone in the room, thanked them for getting my new little loaf here safely, and apologized for all the names I'd called them... except for my widwife, who I still hate.

BUT, I will say, Eve is the sweetest, most delectable little angel baby and I'd easily go through her delivery 100 times over to get her here. So far, my adjustment to two, with the help of my mama and glorious husby, has been peaceful and lovely.

I can't wait for you to meet her.