Edith Louise Habel

Well, the princess has made her grand entrance. Not that it was all that grand, or all that dramatic. On September 24, 2014 Miss Edith Louise Habel decided to grace us with her presence. And what an angel she would prove to be ... Even more precious than I ever could have imagined.

It was a Wednesday and I wasn't feeling 100%. Pretty tired and run down actually. Decided to stay home from work and take it easy for the day.  I piddled in her room and did some organizing in Charlie's play room. I picked Charlie up at school at 2 pm while experiencing what I thought might be contractions. When we got home, he and I snuggled on the couch and I tried to keep my feet up to see if the contractions would stick around, and they did. Around four o'clock I started to really notice that they were coming more consistently and at five I started to time them. I had talked to Josh at that point and warned him I thought we could be making a trip to the hospital tonight. The contractions were coming about every seven to ten minutes I thought if they continued for an hour we would make a move. I made a few calls to get Charlie settled for the evening ...and within a matter of minutes our sitter and my mom and dad were all on their way to the house. 

We arrived at the hospital and they checked me into triage at 6:15 pm. Dilated to a four the nurse contacted the doctor on call, Dr. Hill,  and he instructed her to monitor me for another hour before she admitted me. A little after seven o'clock I had progressed on to a five and the contractions were coming about every four minutes. At 8:15 pm while waiting to be moved to a room my water broke, this sealed the deal and we knew it wouldn't be long until we met this little one. I'll never forget my conversation with Josh, thinking her birthday would have to be the 25th, since it was so late, there was no way she would come tonight. Well ... 

Once I was in my room things progressed along well, not quickly at this point, but well. At 10:15 pm the anesthesiologist administered my epidural and I was able to relax a bit. But like Charlie, it only took on my right side so after 20 minutes he was back to up the dosage. Once I was comfortable, the nurse gave me a bit of pitosin and I was able to actually shut my eyes for a minute or two. At 11:15 pm she came to check and announced that I was ready to go. Dr. Hill arrived and had me push once to "see what I could do" and he was suited up with his entourage of nurses in no time. A few pushes later - through two contractions to be exact - Miss Edith was here. Born at 11:30 pm weighing 8 pounds and 3 ounces she was 19 inches long. More hair than Charlie, bigger cheeks too, but so similar to her brother in so many ways.

We were over the moon thrilled that she was finally here - healthy and in our arms after such a bumpy ride. We were in our room by 3:00 am and when the nurses came to check her temp at five they took her to the nursery to put her under the lamp until 6:30 am.

My parents had driven in to Springfield and stayed with Charlie at our house overnight. They brought him to the hospital around 9:30 am the next morning with flowers for his sister. In the beginning he was a bit overwhelmed. I think it troubled him more to see me in a hospital bed, in a gown, hooked up to machines more than anything. He loved his sister from the beginning I could tell, but he was still a little hesitant to touch her. 

Aunt LuLu flew into KC Thursday afternoon - This had been the plan for months - so my dad shuttled her back to Springfield and she was able to meet her new niece that night. The Russell Family was kind enough to bring Charlie to the hospital after soccer practice and they were happy to meet baby girl too.

Our time in the hospital was pretty smooth. Not a lot of sleep on Thursday night but expected the second time around. We were released on Friday afternoon around lunch time and eager to get Miss Edie home.

 

   

It happened to be "E" week at school! Aunt Lulu and Grandma and Grandpa helped CGH get dressed in his "Big Bro" shirt from Aunt Boogie and packed up his picture of his new baby sister Edith in an Envelope! Just might have been one of the best days of this little guys life. 

We had lots of great visitors, yummy food 
and beautiful flowers to greet us at home.

Our sitter, Miss Anna, was home for fall break and stopped in for a visit!

On Saturday, with the temps in the 70's and CGH's soccer game being at 11:00 a.m. we made our first outing as a family of four (five if you count Aunt LuLu) I felt a little crazy at first, being out in public but the weather was just too nice, and I was really feeling great! Charlie scored a goal, and all his friends were so happy to meet his little sister, and he of course was eager to show her off! 

 

We were home ... and a family of four. 
Life couldn't get much sweeter!