Happy B"Earth"day!! (My 100th Post!)

Sophia Elyse has arrived!

She arrived 6 days late but in a huge hurry! She was born April 22nd (Earth day) at 7:14am, maybe she will be our little save the Earth, hippie chick. Just 6 short hours after my water broke at home. Once we got to the hospital (at 3am) things just kept on moving! I was admitted into a room (with my contractions coming 2 minutes apart) and was checked at 4cm and 90% effaced. Once I was all checked in and the consent forms all signed I was signaling for the epidural! I got it just in time around 6am...not 10 minutes after the epidural was in I was fully dilated and ready to push! We could not believe it! After only 20 minutes of pushing out came Sophia letting everyone know she had arrived! The nurse had predicted that she would be born at 7:03am and she wasn't far off. It was the most intense 4 hours of my life, but all the waiting and pain was worth it (as all of you Mom's out there know).

The hospital visit was very different the second time around. I was so much more relaxed and up and around than I was with Carter. One of the things that really worried me was having Carter come and visit and be ok with Mommy in the hospital. The first day he came to visit, I was still in the gown, had an IV needle in, and although I was up and around he was still a little nervous about why Mommy looked so different. So the next day before he came I took a shower and put my own clothes on so that he would be more comfortable around me and he was!

We had a great experience at the hospital, the nurses were awesome and very helpful. Although we had to share a room the first night in the hospital (April 22nd was a very popular day to have a baby!) We made it through and had a good experience at Howard County General.

Since we have been home I have once again been in awe of how AMAZING my husband is! He is by far the best father I have ever seen! He has been great with keeping Carter busy and trying to keep the house normal for him. He is also great with the baby changing diapers, helping to feed her, changing her clothes, and just keeping her content! He is AMAZING and I don't know what I would do without him!

Second, I would like to thank everyone who has helped take care of my first baby and helped him to adjust to his new baby sister. My parents, my in-laws, both of who watched Carter while we were in the hospital, and my sister and brother in-law who have taken Carter to see the movie Earth to give Nick and I some time at home. I am so grateful for all the help that we have recieved this past week!

As far as Sophie is going, she is GREAT!! She is eating like CRAZY, so much that I can't keep up yet and we have had to supplement with formula, but that is ok with me and hopefully we can nurse exclusively this time around, but if not, that is ok too. She is just so lovable, snuggly, and content as a baby could be. We love her and cannot get enough of her!

I will leave you with some pictures of our new baby girl, who by the way is getting TONS of love from her big brother Carter, who cannot give her enough kisses!