Her Grand Arrival!

Although I got a little behind in my 'daily' blog postings as promised, I have a valid excuse. Our little girl has arrived!!!

Caitlin Elizabeth was born last Saturday May 2nd at 9:54pm at Southlake in Newmarket, weighing 7 lbs, 12 oz. and 54.5 cm long. And not only was she easy on mommy coming out, she's a great little girl - she doesn't cry too much (although last night was the first exception...) and she already smiles. I didn't think newborns can do that? Mike says it's because she's our happy little girl.

And of course, she's gorgeous. She's got fine blond hair, big beautiful grey/blue eyes, my lips, Mike's nose and the most adorable eep/hiccups.

I must say, I was really terrified of the whole labour thing - whether or not I'd be able to go through the pain with relative ease, and of course, not knowing if that motherly-instinct would kick in after her birth. But it did, and now I'm all paranoid for her; whether she is getting enough to eat, if she's comfortable, and not wanting anyone else to touch her! Who'd have thought :)

The labour itself was pretty intense. It started Saturday morning just before 7:00am, and Mike timed my contractions. Except there was no rhyme or reason to them; some were 10 minutes apart, some were 2 minutes, and they each varied in length. And what was strange was that movement would also trigger them, so I found it easiest to sit. We decided to go to the hospital and I was admitted at 11:15am. My L&D nurse said that I was having coupling contractions which is why some felt longer than others - I was getting 2-3 at once. Then, at about 2:30pm I got the epidural... which I welcomed with open arms!! I honestly felt I was losing my mind with each contraction. The doctor broke my water at 7:00pm and I started pushing at 8:00pm when I had reached 10cm. After 2 hours of pushing, our little one arrived. The doctor said, 'Do you want to make the call dad?'... Mike looked down at me with teary eyes and said 'It's a girl!' as the doctor held her up. Then the nurses put her on my tummy and she looked right up at me. All three of us in tears of course :) I was then transfered to the post partum ward and from then on out, Mike and I have been averaging about 2 two hour sleeps a night. I knew I'd be tired and exhausted, but I didn't really realize how much. Not to mention I'm a basket case now - tearing up at everything from looking at her birth pictures to congratulatory emails from family & friends.

I should mention that we put a birth announcement in the Saturday May 16th's Toronto Star, so keep an eye out for it.

I`m hoping to post new pictures and new things she's doing, but until we get a regular schedule in our household, it might be difficult... but please bear with me and I'd love for you to follow along!