Josie was born on July 30th at 11:14. She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. I was 5 days overdue, and miserable until I went into labor! I have never been more impatient for something, not even to get married. The hardest part was not knowing when she was going to make her grand entrance, and just waiting around. I was going to be induced on August 1st if she didn't come out on her own, and I really wanted a July baby.
The morning of July 30th, Jake and I went in to the doctor to see how she was doing. They hooked me up to a big machine that measured my contractions and her heartbeat. That was at about 11 or noon. A few hours later I started having contractions, but they weren't very painful so I didn't think too much of it. They were close together, but I would be so embarrassed if I went in and they sent me home. Jake left to go pick up some dinner, and while he was gone I kept having them closer and closer together. He got home and we ate dinner, and then I said maybe we should go to the hospital. We took our bags and her car seat and left! When we checked in to the hospital, they saw that I was 5 centimeters dilated, and they were surprised because they said I was so calm and smiley when I checked in at the front desk that there was no way I could be in labor! I dilated pretty quickly from there, but it still took a few hours until it was time to push. I packed a bunch of my favorite movies, and decided on "That Thing You Do!" because I could pretty much watch that movie every day and never get sick of it. It's my comfort movie. Jake was great, he just sat next to me and smiled and asked how I was every 5 seconds. I started pushing at around 10:00, and almost an hour and a half later, there she was!
Me just waiting for her to decide to be born.
Just moments after being born. She looks so terrified!
From the moment she was born she alert and awake. She didn't cry, just looked around in bewilderment at everything. She stayed awake for quite a while before finally going to sleep. I didn't love staying in the hospital. In fact I sort of hated it after she was born. A nurse or social worker or doctor or specialist of some sort was coming into our room at least once an hour, all hours of the day. I hardly got any sleep. Neither did Jake; he had to sleep on a small little couch, curled up in a ball both nights we were there! I'm glad he stayed though; I really needed him when I was going on hours and hours with no sleep. I was so happy to finally come home and start my own schedule. My mom stayed with us until Saturday morning. I LOVED having her here. A woman with 7 children is definitely and expert on how to soothe a crying newborn.
Since she's been born, she has grown so much! I'm not sure how much she weighs now, but I'm guessing almost 11 pounds. She is growing out of her little newborn clothes. It makes me a little sad. She's started cooing and smiling at us, acknowledging how much we love her. It's the best feeling in the world! She likes to stick her tongue out, and tries to stick her whole fist in her mouth, or her wrist, whatever is more convenient. Her favorite time of the day is bath time. If I wait too long in the day to give her a bath, she gets grumpy. But as soon as she gets in the water, she's all smile and giggles! Her favorite album to listen to is "Adore" by Smashing Pumpkins; it will soothe her cries almost every time. She also enjoys the beats of Bob Marley and the melodies of Harry Nilsson's "The Point!". She sleeps really well when we swaddle her, but lately has become quite the Houdini and in the middle of the night will have gotten at least one arm out of the swaddle! She absolutely loves loves loves her daddy. I knew this would be the case. He is so sweet with her. Sometimes he will just watch her first thing in the morning before she and I are awake, or he'll take pictures of her instead of doing his homework while I teach violin lessons. I couldn't ask for a better dad for our little girl.
She is growing up so much, and we love to see how she looks like me one minute and then Jake the next. I can't imagine my life without her!
This is Josie and I today.
We love Josie! I think our baby's need a play date soon.
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