B.A.B.Y. P.E.A.R.L.

This story begins last week. It was weekly Sister Night Wednesday, since Danny is at school til 9:00 p.m., Rox and I were doing what we do best... shop. We ran around pretty much everywhere buying baby clothes, baby accessories, ect. I felt great still being a couple days away from my due date with no labor pains whatsoever. It was a fun night filled with Cafe Rio Pork salads and talk of how to get baby here faster. The week before at my regular appointment my Dr. said he thought our baby weighed about 8 lbs and that if I didn't go into labor on my own they wouldn't induce me until Jan. 24th!!! Ugh. It was disheartening to say the least. It wasn't the fact that I would have to be pregnant 11 days past my due date, it was the fact that this baby was growing bigger everyday and only had one way out. If any of you remember Millie's birthing story I was pretty much a rock in the delivery room... Oh wait, my memory has failed me once again. I would more accurately describe myself as a wet noodle. I nearly fainted, threw up twice and peed my pants forcing me to wear Roxanne's maternity clothes home from the hospital. I think my concerns for my own labor were valid considering my only other experience in a birthing room was pretty much disastrous. As Sister Night came to an end Rox said, "I wish you would just have this baby already!"

I replied, "I feel way too good to have a baby. There is no way she is coming anytime soon."

Danny got home from school and asked how I was feeling. I told him I felt good, same old same old. Even with me telling him this he was still convinced she was coming tonight. He went to sleep and soon after I started having some pains. They were different than any other pain I had ever had so I started timing them. They were occurring about every 4-6 minutes so I waited about 2 hours to make sure they weren't leaving. They were definitely not leaving but getting stronger. I didn't want to wake Danny unless this was the real deal since he already gets no sleep with his crazy schedule. (Right now he is working about 65 hours a week and taking 16 credits at school. He's an animal) With the expertise of Mindy, Rox and my mom I decided I would wake him up. I've never seen Danny look so excited/nervous when I told him I thought I was going into labor. We grabbed our hospital bag and were on our way.

Riding the elevator up to the Labor and Delivery floor.

They checked me in at 12:00 a.m. and I was only dilated to a 3, but my contractions were still consistently four minutes apart. They said they wanted to watch and see if I kept dilating. My parents and Millie came to the hospital to say hi to me and Beetle who was checked into Intensive Care a few hours before I was admitted. It was a weird night. It was nice to have them there keeping Danny and I company while I was having contractions and no epidural. Emphasis on the no epidural. Around 2:30 they gave me the blessed epidural, which is fantastic by the way. Definitely the only way to go for me:) Rox, Grant and Mindy came to say hi while we waited. My doctor said he thought I would have the baby around 8:00 since most first time moms push for about 2-3 hours and I was still only dilated to a 4. So we told my parents to go get some rest. The nurse came in at 4:00 and said your at a 10 it's time to start pushing. I told Rox to call my mom and get her here. My mom left the house immediately.

I didn't really know what to expect so I asked the nurse, "Is there anyway you could give me a quick rundown of what I need to be doing?"

She laughed and said we would start out with a practice push. I did 2 practice pushes as my doctor sat casually on the end of my hospital bed when he gasped and said, "Don't push anymore!" He ran out of the room and put his lab coat and gloves on returning with his tray of tools. One more push, no baby. My mom came in. One more push....

And she was here!!!

Pearl Ann Elder born 1.12.2012

at 4:12 a.m.

Weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz

Healthy baby girl!

Proud Daddy holding his little girl for the first time. I've never seen Danny beaming quite like this. He still hasn't stopped smiling:)

The Proud Parents literally 2 minutes after she was born!!!

Neatest experience of my life yet. I can't believe how much I could love this little girl instantly. Love at first sight with this one! :)

Danny pretty much nailed everything about the little princess. He said he knew she was going to be a girl, he knew she was going to have red hair and he knew she was going to be born on the 12th. If you were wondering I was dead wrong about everything... I'm glad I was.

T H E F L A M E ! ! !

Me lovin' on Pearl Girl:)

Pearl looking up at her Dad:)

And just for the record, I didn't think Danny could get any cuter...then I was wrong. He is so dang cute holding his baby girl and has seriously been so amazingly sweet to me.

Pearl had many visitors while in the hospital:)

Beetle is not pictured, but he was definitely at the hospital:(

She loved having the luscious locks washed...

And getting her hair did. Already a Diva:)

We feel so lucky that everything went so well. We really are blessed to have the opportunity to be this little cutie's parents. We are home from the hospital and loving life with little Pearl.

Stay tuned.... Photo shoot with Pearl Girl to be posted soon!!!