My sweet Amelia Rose

She's here! Welcome baby Amelia Rose Choummanivong. She was born on 6/17/12 at 8:27 pm. 6lbs 6 oz and 19in. She came a littler earlier than the docs would have liked. But she passed all her preemie tests with flying colors. We were released today and are getting acclimated at home. She's less than 48 hours old and has been such an angel. We love her so much! She came on the most perfect day, Father's Day! That can only mean she will be her daddy's little girl.

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about how wonderful my labor was. I had Benson naturally and had the same expectations with this labor and delivery. I'm sure I've explained before but my thoughts on natural vs epidural derived from my mother, who had all 3 of her children naturally. My mom is the strongest woman I know and I can only hope to continue in my life doing and being half the woman she is. As the days grew closer to my due date, I was getting more and more nervous about the pain. All I could remember with Benson was how long and painful the 7hours of labor was. I had been reading/watching videos of different pain easing labor techniques and positions were. I read a book called the Buddha Mom which had some enlightening thoughts on the birthing process and how to overcome the pain with self control. The more I "prepared" myself for another natural birth, the more I was freaking myself out. I had asked Eric to make sure to give me as much support as possible to help guide me through it. I even read a google fact saying labor pain was equivalent as being burned alive!

So last I knew I was 2 cm dilated. At my last appt (36 weeks) the doctor did not check my progress and just told me it didn't really matter how far I had progressed because it would not predict when the baby would come. Saturday night I had THE WORST sleep ever. Tossing, turning and wishing to no longer be pregnant. Sunday morning, Benson and I woke up and surprised Eric with our Father's Day Gift and card. That morning, my mucus plug came out. (It's a mucus membrane that protects the amniotic sac). With Benson, my plug came out and later that night my water broke. So I only assumed things would repeat itself. We went out to lunch with my parents and came home. I wanted to rest thinking I would be spending the rest of the night having a baby. Eric had taken Benson to the pool. Around 6:30 the boys came back and I started having sharp contractions. I had originally thought they were my Braxton Hicks but thought I should time them JUST IN CASE. Within 15 minutes of starting the timing, they were 2 minutes apart!!! I told Eric I thought I was going into labor so he got in the shower. My water did not break so we assumed we had time. He wanted to eat before leaving so he decided to grill a burger. I called my mom to let her know I was in pain so she headed over with my dad. As they sat in the dining room laughing, eating dinner and enjoying each others company, I was in labor in our room. No big deal. I called the doctor to let her know and I also called the hospital so they could expect me to be there. At this point the pain was almost unbearable. I did everything I could to breath through them. My only goal was to get to the hospital.

We checked in at the hospital at 7:30pm. I know this because I had to write the time down. Although I had already pre registered, completed and signed and mailed back I still had to sign and fill out some more. So you can imagine having to take breaks to breath through my contractions to sign the freaking papers. The lady finally rolled me to my delivery room. I got to my room around 7:50-8:00. I was asked to change into a gown and give a pee sample. I tried to give a sample but instead had the urge to push! I told the nurse and she had me lay down to check my dilation...I was 9cm already. She had to call the doctor 4 times to tell her to come NOW. As soon as the doctor got there, I pushed through 3 contractions and bam, welcome baby. She was born within the next 30 minutes. Had we not left the house any sooner, I would have had her in the car. I lucked out. I am blessed to the max.

Benson has been a complete doll with her. Giving her lots of love and affection. He has been acting out but I know its for our attention. I'm excited to see what lies ahead in the Choummanivong household. So far, I've had tons of fun dressing up my little baby doll. It's so fun to have a baby girl! I'll have to post pictures when I get some time. :)