WE DID IT!!!

OMG...we had a kid. A girl. With red hair. Not exactly the boy I was totally expecting (in fact, before the doctor could even announce her arrival, (he was busy with the cord) I looked down and said "Oh my God, it's a girl.") She weighed 6lbs 3oz. and was 19 inches long, born last Thursday. Two and a half years to the day from when Workaholic and I got married.

He lived up to his name in the delivery room, BTW. He was all business, holding my hand (before I got the epidural), laughing at my love of Matt Lauer (after I got my epidural) and cleaning up the things that needed to be cleaned up. He even kept it together enough to cut the cord!! And then he almost passed out...but didn't. I was so proud.

Here is the part where I tell all of you that the epidural is the best thing ever invented. EVER. I had what is called "back labor", and it hurt so bad I couldn't breathe sometimes. Crying was definitely out of the question. And if I hadn't gotten any meds, I most certainly would have passed out. She would've just been stuck in me forever. (and this is what they tell you to do. "Try to relax and breathe through it." You breathe through it you sadistic whore!! Give me MEDS NOW!!!!) Any anesthesiologist who administers epidurals should be knighted. And sainted. And given many gifts, like gold and frankincense. People always will say that you forget the pain of childbirth, and that is why you do it again. I don't think I'll be forgetting any time soon. But I'll do it again. I will just walk into the hospital next time and demand meds. Because this time, I was too polite and not insistent enough, and really? 12 hours of back labor is enough. For a lifetime. The nurse will fear me next time.

Anyway, she is a really cute baby. And I'm not saying that just because I am slightly biased. I am saying it because it is totally true. You know how you can tell if people are telling the truth by the tone of their voice? The 3 nurses that were in my room each saw her and said, "She really is a cute baby"...like they were surprised. And then they repeated it, except with emphasis. So if the nurses who see babies all day long think she is cute, then you know she is.

So now the 4 of us are at home, trying to get good sleep, and trying to eat on a reasonable schedule, and making sure she is clean and fed and happy. Just like her mom, she loves to sleep. One could say that she lives to sleep. Workaholic is snowblowing the driveway of the 8 or 10 inches of snow that have accumulated. Maybe less, I don't know, I haven't exactly been out. But him and Fonz are playing, so that makes me happy.

In the next 24 hours or so, you can go on www.our365.com, and I believe you can search by our last name to see her birth picture. And you can leave comments. Those are fun. Feel free. (it was supposed to have been available by now, but somewhere along the way, our signed permission slip didn't make it to the company, so they didn't put her up on the website, even though we signed the permission slip!) For now, here is her picture...it's the best one we have showing off her hair. (I still can't believe I have a red-headed daughter!!)