It's Official: Luna is a BIG Sister

Well, it's been an exciting, exhausting few days at Luna's house in Bellingham, Washington. Lynnelle began labor early Friday, and at 9:58 on the morning of Saturday, April 9, our Grace Ann was born. In a process that at times seemed like it would never end, Lynnelle had at her side younger sister, Emily, our doula (yes, "our" - I would have been lost without her) Mary, and me.

After 15 hours of strong but inconsistent contractions, we decided to head to the hospital. Things started picking up around 11:00 Friday night, so it seemed like we better get in. Lynnelle measured 7-8cm, so they admitted her and called the doctor. About 30 minuted later, the doctor arrived and paid us a visit. Understandably, she thought as we did and said it didn't look like it would be very long before baby would arrive. However the admitting and prep process slowed everything WAY down. Contractions almost came to a halt and were more spread out. This was one of our fears about getting to the hospital too early. But since Luna came so fast, we didn't want to take any chances.

A long night followed, but the nurses and doctor were terrific about leaving us alone and letting Lynnelle labor in the way she wanted. And though the staff at the child birth center and the doctors at Bellingham OB GYN and Associates are first rate, we could not have done this without Lynnelle's sister, Emily and Mary Burgess. Mary is a doula in Bellingham and she does absolutely amazing things for moms, babies, siblings, AND dads in our community. We are so lucky to have her here. I hope if you are pregnant or know someone who is pregnant, you will consider having her be a part of your birth. You will NOT regret it.

Grace Ann took her time, but she eventually joined us almost 26 hours after first knocking on the door. She weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces and is 22 inches long. Holy uterus, Batman! Wanting to outdo her long labor, she gave us a brief scare once she was here. Her temperature and blood sugar levels were pretty low, so they rushed her to the nursery for some formula and her first trip to the tanning bed. It's never really too early to start tanning in northwest Washington, is it? Lynnelle wasn't pleased that the baby was getting all the attention, so she proceeded to lose a lot of blood. Let's just say that daddy wasn't too happy with his girls. He has enough gray hairs already!!! The doctors and nurses got to work on Lynnelle's uterus while dad went with Grace to the nursery.

Not long after, everyone was stable and doing fine. Grammy, Oma, Grandpa, and Luna got their first look at Grace while she was in the nursery. Luna peered in through the window and said, "That's my baby!" I think I heard someone say, "That came out of Lynnelle?" Just kidding. Once Grace was crispy and tender and had a satisfactory blood sugar level, we rejoined the family in the delivery room and the celebration began.

Exhausted, sore, and full of joy we attempted to get some rest. It's the end of Day 2 of little Gracie's life, and we couldn't be happier to have her with us. We hope you get to meet her soon. Until then, here are some pictures of our family.
  

Not long after Grace was born. We had just discovered she was a she and began getting to know how well her lungs work. 

Wonderful, strong, super mama, daddy, and baby Grace.

Awaiting first exam. "Oh she is a big one," said one of the nurses.

"10 pounds, 11 ounces," said another.

While Gracie was in the nursery, Luna came in to see how mommy was doing. She took the opportunity to give Luna a gift from baby sister: a new camera just for Luna.

"It's my baby sister. She likes me!"

One tuckered out little girl.

Auntie Emily and Uncle Pat. Thank you so much for being with us during Grace's birth, Emily.

Daddy and Gracie catching some z's.

Thank you Sylvia.

Time for Luna to give her little sister a present: her very own lovey.  

Followed by a kiss, of course. Luna is so sweet with her.

And so very happy and excited to be a big sister.

Proud grandpa.

Look at that 'do. Incredible. No wonder we saw the spikes on the ultrasound.

Okay, she's cute, but little babies are actually pretty funny looking. Who are we kidding?

Mom and daughter bonding already. It's fun getting to know her.

"Shaka Bra"

Our little sumo wrestler.

Enough with the pictures dad!