Welcome Home Rachel!

Early Wednesday morning our newest daughter, Rachel, was born. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Wednesday was actually her due date. I had never gone to the due date before so this was new for us. The closest I had gone to the due date before Rachel was 5 days before the due date.

I don't know if it would have been as hard as it was going to the due date if I hadn't been having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions the entire week leading up to the due date. Had them fairly regularly every day but they would eventually stop. None of them were strong enough so I knew they would stop and knew they weren't likely to develop into active labor. I did find it interesting though that the two days before the due date the Braxton-Hicks contractions slowed down and never really got as regular as they had been.

I pretty much knew right away when actual labor started. Those contractions hurt. The Braxton-Hicks ones were uncomfortable but not really painful. They quickly got close and regular so we didn't wait long before heading to the hospital. Labor with Rachel was probably my shortest labor at about 4 1/2 hours. When we got to the hospital the contractions were quite regular at 2 minutes apart. Yes, I opted for the epidural. Yes, it was very very nice to have.

We came home from the hospital Thursday evening. The kids were all very excited to have her home. Even a couple of neighbor kids greeted us when we got home. I was worried how Dylan would be with a baby since he's such a mama's boy. He hasn't seemed jealous at all and even tonight when I asked Russ to take the baby so I could cuddle with Dylan for a minute Dylan got upset and said he wanted me to hold the baby and cuddle with both of them. He sometimes gets upset that I'm not holding the baby. Wonder how long it will last.

We are all glad to have Rachel as part of our family. She is a good baby and seems pretty laid-back most of the time. The only exception so far has been when the chocolate I decided to eat caused her to have some gas and such. Guess that means no more chocolate for me for a while. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for such a sweet and beautiful baby.