Introducing . . .

Our little peanut

Magnolia was born on April 27 at 3:51 p.m. She weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz (a chunky little thing) and measured 19.5 inches long.

From the moment we met, even with her squishy, swollen face, bruised nose, and cone head I thought that she just might be the cutest, most perfect thing that I have ever seen.

She came out with a long fingers, big feet, and a loud, lusty cry which she used non-stop for about 2 days whenever we put her down.

Then, she seemed to mostly give up crying. Already, she has become a sweet, happy baby. She rarely cries and comforts very easily. She is as cuddly as she could possibly be (which is fabulous because I love cuddling her) and she loves to smile.

Joe and I are so grateful that she has become a part of our family.

Now, one of the hardest things is that I cannot hardly bring myself to set her down . . . ever. I am in love :-)

From day 1 she had her Daddy completely wrapped around her little finger. I love how small she looks in his arms.

Here are a couple of extra pictures just because she is cute.

(She totally has her Grandpa Manning's hair)

For those who are interested, I will share her birth story. It may be a little lengthy, so feel free to skim or skip it altogether.

On Monday, April 26th I had an appointment with my doctor. Although I was already dilated to 4 cm, during the non-stress test, Maggie's little heart rate was not very reassuring, so my doctor scheduled me for an induction that night at midnight. I had been hoping to give birth without using any medications because I wanted to give my little baby and myself the best possible odds for having a healthy birth with as little medical intervention as possible, so after my appointment, I went home tried the last "natural" induction technique that I have heard of (and had not yet tried) . . . castor oil. Okay, it did make me a little sick, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined it would, and amazingly, I did start having contractions at about 5:00 in the evening. Shoot . . . who says you can't induce your own labor. I was pretty proud of myself.

The contractions continued until around 11:00 I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes. My doctor had advised me, based on Maggie's heart rate/rhythm, that I should report to the hospital if I started having regular frequent contractions so they could monitor the baby even though I had hoped to labor at home for awhile, so Joe and I headed to the hospital about 1 hour before my scheduled induction. After arrival at the hospital, my contractions all but stopped. They became much weaker and totally irregular. I walked the halls, sucking my thumb and all that other jazz, trying to get the contractions started again. Unfortunately, I had no luck. Worse still, the baby's heart rhythm was such that the hospital staff said that I didn't even qualify to receive pitocin. Finally, about 3:00 a.m. they told me to go to sleep; they would keep monitoring the baby and my doctor would come see me in the morning.

Around 8:30 a.m. my contractions were still irregular and weak; my doctor arrived and broke my water in an effort to induce labor that way. I still didn't qualify for pitocin, and I was still only dilated to 4 cm. After a couple of hours bouncing on a birthing ball and hanging out in my room, it became apparent that my contractions were not getting any stronger. However, Maggie's heart rate had improved enough that they were willing to give me pitocin. It is amazing that at first I had dreaded the thought of having my labor induced with pitocin, but by the time I finally received it (about 10:00 a.m.) I was so grateful that Maggie's heart rate had improved; I was grateful to be receiving the drug. Within an hour I was having strong, regular contractions.

Joe and I were overwhelmed with gratitude. Because I now had to be monitored continuously and was still gushing amniotic fluid, I was very limited in how much I was able to move around. This made the contractions much more difficult. Also, I was having the infamous back labor. It is incredible, I didn't even feel any pain in my belly, but my my back was incredibly painful. By about 12:30 I was too tense; I had completely lost the ability to relax during the contractions, and I decided to get an epidural. I was dilated to 6cm. During the entire morning, Maggie's heart rate continued to be non-reassuring. No sooner had the epidural taken effect than Joe noticed the fetal monitor. For the first time, since we had arrived at the hospital, our baby's heart rhythm looked like the "ideal" rhythm that the hospital staff had shown us. Perhaps it was because I was finally relaxed; after an incredibly stressful night; whatever the mechanism, I am very happy that I made the decision to have an epidural, even though it was a very difficult decision for me to make.

One hour later, I was dilated to 10 cm. Again, perhaps because I was finally totally relaxed, my body did what it was really supposed to do. At this point the baby was still at 1+ station and her head was turned sideways, so my doctor and the nurses decided to let me just allow her to passively drop and turn. Finally, maybe around 3:00 the nurse decided to have me try pushing. After just 1 contraction they could see little Maggie's head. She called my doctor. Four contractions later I had a screaming, healthy baby girl. What a blessing it is to live in a time when medical professionals can safely deliver healthy babies to healthy moms. While I will still probably try to give birth naturally when Joe and I are finally brave enough to take on this adventure again, I am very happy with how things turned out. After all, did you see Maggie's little face; what more can you really ask for?

Thank you for your words of encouragement and for your prayers on our behalf. Throughout this intense period, we truly felt the love of our family, friends, and Savior.