Announcing Isabel Amy!

Thursday afternoon and evening we helped my brother move and I think that after everything I tried to get labor going this is what did the trick. Robert was a trooper but on the way home he just couldn't make it without falling asleep, as you can see above. I'm sure he was sending vibes to Izzy letting her know that it was time for her to arrive!

Well that night after getting home late I decided to take the next day off of work. I texted my staff and e-mailed my boss...little did I know at that time that work wouldn't even be an option! I woke up a little before 5 to my water breaking and after quick showers for both Eric and I we were on our way to the hospital. It was really a blessing that both my mom and brother had slept at our house after the moving so leaving in the wee hours of the morning didn't disturb Robert. We were checked into our delivery room by 5:45am and shocked to hear I was dilated to 5cm already because as of Tuesday I was barely 1cm dilated. A couple of hours later they checked again and found me to be a 7-8 and with popping more of my water we were sure I'd be pushing in no time. Well Izzy had other plans and got stuck at 7cm for over 4 hours. At 1:00 it was decided to start pitocin to get the contractions a little stronger, and man were they strong. I didn't attempt an epidural (the 11 unsuccessful attempts with Robert didn't leave me to eager to try again) and up until that point the contractions were doable. Well from 1:30-3:00 the pain went from about a 7 on a 1-10 scale to oh lets say 35. I was crying/screaming with every contractions and even though they attempted some other pain meds it did nothing for the pain. Finally at 3:00 I called the nurse in and told her that either I had to push this baby out or I wanted a c-section (which had already been discussed) because I couldn't continue on. Luckily I was 9.5 and with 2 more contractions I was ready to push. I only pushed for about 10 minutes (unlike almost 3 hours with Robert) and Isabel was here. Although the pushing was shorter her birth was by far A LOT worse.

Isabel arrived at 3:13pm weighing in at 8lbs 11oz and was 21 inches long. She was as long as her brother but about a 1/2 pound lighter and had a smaller head! She is absolutely precious and we are enjoying getting to know her and learn her personality.

Apgar scores were 8 and 9 out of 10...not too shabby!

Izzy with dad and mom

First Bath!

Robert meeting his sister!

Cousin Lyric with her new GIRL cousin

Grandma Hempler meeting Izzy

Uncle Nick, Grandma Roberts and Izzy

We'll be here at the hospital until sometime tomorrow. My recovery is already night and day from Robert (again goes back to a smaller head size from Izzy!) and I'm feeling great. Izzy even slept for 3-4 hour stretches last night allowing us to get some pretty good rest. We'll post more about her later.