She's here!!

Allie McKenna made her grand debut on July 28th, 2009 at 5:38pm! She weighed a healthy 7lbs 10oz, and was 19in long. She has a decent amount of dark brown hair, and looks just like her daddy and big brothers with her chubby little cheeks! I really can't believe she weighed as much as she did! When she was born, everyone in the room was guessing 6-something! We were seriously surprised to see 7 10 pop up on that scale! She doesn't even fit in preemie clothes! Her going home outfit was a preemie, and it's too big on her! She's definitely a petit little thing!

On to the details...

I had been saying since Spring time that I had a feeling about the 28th. My mom asked me one time, "Do you have any date that pops out to you?", and I replied, "July 28th. I don't know why, but for some reason, that date just sticks out in my head!". You can imagine how floored I was when I realized I was in labor on July 28th!

It wasn't too bad for the most part. I did end up getting an epidural when I was around 7cm. I was having bad nerve pain that ran across my bad and down 1/4 of both of my thighs. It literally felt like someone was taking a pair of scissors to every single nerve in that area.

Just like with Aiden, the epi worked for the contractions, but I could still feel everything when It came time to push. I like that in a way, because I know when I needed to and I could feel how effectivly I was pushing. On the other hand, the pressure and the pain are indescribable! WOW...that's all I have to say. I can't believe I wanted to do that more than once, lol

I pushed for about 40min all together - with active pushing being about 15min. As soon as she came out, they opened my gown and put her on my chest. They left her there for about 5min. w/out cutting the cord, and another 20min before bathing or weighing her. It was an amazing time for both of us! No one else in the room exsisted in that moment to me. It was crazy to see her do what she did for just being born! Within 5min of being on my chest, she was rooting around, looking for my breast! She found it all on her own and started feeding right away!

She's a great baby! Typically newborn crying, but all in all, a good baby! I can't complain!

I'm still trying to get this whole "feeding on a schedule" down. We're getting there, but it's hard not to let her on my boob when she's crying and nothing else seems to soothe her. I don't mind it, but it messes with the whole "timed feeding" thing, and the chart that we got from the hospital to fill out. We'll get it!

Some pics for you!