Patience and Perspective: Audrey Elizabeth Falcon

She is HERE!!! Our precious daughter arrived on September 23, 2010 at 12:07pm! She weighed (shockingly!) 8 pounds and 8 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. She's a big girl!

We got up that day and did some last minute packing, cleaning, and other things that we wanted to finish before heading off to the hospital. We took some "pre-baby pictures" and one final baby bump picture. We were both anxious and nervous and so excited! We were giddy! Here is us right before heading in to the hospital...

We spent about 2 hours in triage while they pumped me full of fluids and monitored our vitals. Then around 11:30 we walked over to the operating room where Josh had to wait outside. I went in and got my epidural, which I hated. Once they split Josh and I up, I got really scared. I was right on the edge of crying the whole time until he finally came in, after they had made the first incision. Overall, I hated having a c-section and hope to never have one again, but I am so glad that Audrey got here safely and was healthy and happy.

Here is our very first family photo. It is my favorite of all the pictures we have...the smile Josh has in his eyes and peeking out from his mask...the way she smelled right then...the overwhelming emotions I had...it was all so perfect.

The hospital stay was actually pretty great. The Birthing Inn where we delivered was awesome - the nurses were so helpful, everyone was kind and patient with us, even the food was yummy! Here is the very proud Papa:

Headed Home, Audrey's first car ride:

The first few days at home were a bit overwhelming, but so enjoyable. I was so emotional so even small things were setting me off into fits of crying. Not sad tears necessarily (though at times they were sad tears!) but also happy tears and frustration tears. The whole experience is so surreal, it was hard to control all of those emotions! I am feeling much better now though, and if I could just get out an enjoy this beautiful weather I'd be feeling fantastic! We might attempt to go on a walk today, but I'm not sure how long it will be. Standing for too long gets kind of painful.

Audrey's first bath was...interesting. I was a mess. She was crying and was so upset from having to be undressed and that made me cry. I had to leave the room a couple of times. Funny story...I undressed her and undiapered her and wrapped her in a towel to take her from the bed to the bathroom and on the way there she pooped in my hand! Yay! That was my first experience with that. Then this morning I got up to change her dirty diaper and she pooped and peed all over the place while I was doing that. So I moved her to a towel on the bed and she pooped more there. So we moved to a towel on the floor and she peed AGAIN. I finally got another towel and got her all cleaned up before she could go again. Josh normally is the diaper changer but of course this one was mine.