And Then There Were Five

Well, the delivery went well, and a new little girl was added to our family this morning. Hannah Lee Anderson was born at 7:53 AM on Valentine's Day.

Summer will be thrilled that I posted a picture of her pregnant and in a hospital gown!

Hannah was born after only about 2 or so hours of labor, and she weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz, and was 20 & 1/2 inches long. Unfortunately, her rapid descent through the birth canal caused inadequate expulsion of some of the amniotic fluid from her lungs, so she had some difficulty breathing at first (diagnosed with Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN) for all you medical types out there). She had to be transferred to the Special Care Nursery today, and will likely need to stay there for another day or two as her breathing gradually improves. Summer was only able to hold her for about 30 seconds today immediately after the birth, so we look forward to being able to hold her when her breathing gets a little better. She had lots of hair, unlike our two little boys when they were born. Anyway, she is doing well, and hopefully will be able to come home sometime Saturday.

Cameras, Summer's Labor, and Epidurals

Seems like there are a lot of moments when we think "sheesh... I really wish I had a camera right now!" Today was one of those days. We took the kiddos to Baskin Robins to get one of the Tuesday dollar cones and both kids picked out the most chocolaty ice cream cone they could find. It only took about three or four minutes for both kids to have some major chocolate goatees. Even as a 6 year-old, Andrew somehow managed to get chocolate ice cream unintentionally smeared from his chin all the way up to his eyelids. It was quite a site, but unfortunately, once again the camera was sitting securely at home on the shelf. Maybe next time, we'll be more lucky.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day; I work until 3 p.m., then it's going to be a rush to the airport to pick up Summer's mom who is flying in from Utah, and then Summer goes in to Hillcrest to be induced at midnight. Summer's mom was really hoping to come to the hospital for the birth, but odds are that the hospital staff will not want our two sleep deprived kiddos dashing through the hospital corridors at 2 in the morning. That being the case, Nana will probably end up staying home and watching them. Sorry Nana!

Finally, I am pleased to say that the baby's crib, shelves, and dresser are all painted and decked out in baby girl decor. The crib went from being an eyesore which Summer is quoted as saying she "always thought was ugly" to being something she actually likes. After we get the delivery all taken care of, we'll snap some pictures and post them (not that anyone would actually care about pictures of someone else's second hand refurbished crib, but what the hey).

Lastly, a blurb about epidurals. Why would anyone not want one for labor pain? Granted, I've only done about 50 or 60 of them, but I have quite literally watched women going from tears to a smile in a matter of minutes. While I realize there are potential complications, they are extremely rare, and the vast majority of potential complications are very treatable. In fact, I would argue that the majority of people who opt for a natural delivery would still have lidocaine when they go to the dentist. Noone says they want have their root canal done natuarally. Anyway, that's my soap box for the day. If anyone is offended, I'm sorry - that's just my take on the matter. Feel free to buzz me with mean nasty comments if you disagree - I promise I can take it.

**Note: Summer has not yet read, and definitely would not endorse my posting of any of the above comments, and as a disclamer for my own protection, she may or may not agree with any of the above text.