Our Birthday

Abigail is four weeks old today. I wasn't planning on starting a blog about her because I honestly haven't had time to think about anything except keeping our little family's needs met. Eat, sleep, diaper change, repeat. At this moment, she is sleeping. For the first time since 7:00 AM. And even then, she only slept for thirty minutes. We had quite a rough night last night, which seems to happen about every other night. What is it they say about newborns sleeping sixteen hours a day? Not this girl.

Abigail was born on my birthday. We joked all along that she would wait so we could share that day. Some people--even the triage nurse in labor and delivery--said they wouldn't want to share their birthday with anyone. 1. She's my child. I happily share my birthday with her because I love her. 2. I couldn't control the day she was born anyway. 

We had three false alarm trips to UNC before I was actually in labor. The first time, Sunday, I wasn't feeling her moving very much all day. We got to the hospital and she seemed to be doing backflips. The second time, Thursday at 4 AM, thought my water had broken. Silly, silly girl. I think it was just wishful thinking. The third time, Thursday at 4 PM, I was having painful regular contractions. They sent me home because they "weren't real." On the way home from the hospital, and all night after that, I was having major regular contractions. Like screaming in pain, crying, writhing contractions. Every 7 minutes. At 6AM, I told Dillon we had to go in to the hospital. He was hesitant because of all the times I had cried wolf. But when we got to L&D, I was 5 cm dilated!! My first question was, "When can I get an epidural?" and within the hour, I couldn't feel my legs or my contractions, and it was wonderful. 

Fast forward through some boring hours where they told me to sleep, but I couldn't because I was too excited. At 3PM, I started pushing, and at 5:02, she was here! 7 pounds, 7 ounces. 20 and 3/4 inches long. They placed her on my chest, and she cried. She grabbed Dillon's finger, and we just laid there as a little family while the doctor finished everything up. 

We were in the hospital from Friday until Monday. Coming home with her was exciting. When we got home, Dillon and I showed her around the house and took some pictures of her in her room. It took us a few weeks to really get to know each other. We are still figuring it out, but she knows who her mama is, which is the best feeling in the world.