The most notable characteristic that we were surprised to see was all of her thick, dark hair! Her hair is actually long enough that I can put Lizzie's alligator clips in her hair and they will stay! All of the nurses were commenting on her pretty, long eye lashes, too.
Right after birth Julie was very alert, looking around the room and kicking her little legs. She was very patient with the nurses as they poked and prodded her. She put up with alot without any tears except for when they put the ointment in her eyes. The girl's very excited to look around and finally catch a glimpse of the world outside the womb and within 5 min they blur her vision with ointment- very upsetting. Other than that we were very surprised at how patient and happy she was.
Dave and I were on cloud nine all day- just elated to finally have this beautiful healthy girl in our arms.
Since Julie would not heed my hints, begging, or threats to show herself she was induced! I was worried about it taking long or having complications but it couldn't have gone better. They started me on Pitocin around 8:30 am, gave me an epidural around 10:30, and after 20 min of pushing, the baby was born at 12:49pm! I was so relieved at how fast and painless the whole process was- epidurals are amazing! I can't help but think that it was probably for the best to be induced since inductions usually slow the birthing process, and if Julie had come any faster it might have been a close call getting to the hospital...
Since we knew Julie's birthday beforehand we were completely prepared- Lizzie stayed the night at her Grammy's house, my mom flew in the day of, and Dave and I packed all kinds of food, drinks, and entertainment for the long hospital stay.
Within hours after birth, Julie got to meet her big sister, Lizzie, her Grandma, Grammy, and Papa!
We had Lizzie come into the room, first, by herself to meet her little sister. Her reaction was so cute! She said, "Baby Julie!" and gave her a big kiss. Then she gave her a soft little stroke and said, "Nice baby!" Then we presented Lizzie with a baby of her own (a new baby doll her Grandma brought for her). She has been very excited about her baby, pushing her in a little stroller, feeding her and taking care of her.
Lizzie's favorite part of the day, though, was sitting on the bed and playing with the controls. This kept her entertained for the whole visit.
We stayed in the hospital for the minimum 24 hours then convinced them to let us go home! The baby and I were doing just fine and Dave and I were so tired of sitting in that hospital room! So Grandma and Lizzie came to pick us up and take us home!
