It's A Girl!

Athena Rose was born on Sunday at 12:11 p.m.

weighing 8 lb. 11 oz, 20 in long!

We are so happy to have her out and enjoy her!

Thérèse is a natural with her. She's definitely a professional big sister, warm and loving.

Monique was timid at first, but now she won't stop stroking, laughing and talking to her. 

Our new baby girl! 

My dad with his girls.

The happy sisters! 

When Monique first meet her, she wanted to kiss the baby, but she was shy to.

We'd tell her to kiss the baby and she would jump up and down with excitement, but end up shaking her head.

Thérèse waited patiently for her chance to hold the baby.

She was so excited to finally get a chance. 

This was in her p.j's right before bed. Thérèse is so gentle with her. 

We had another home birth, and while I love the home birth experience for so many reasons, I'm so glad labor is over! Saturday was my due date and we lived life like we normally would. We ran a bunch of errands and were exhausted by the end of the day. I started having contractions that evening but I really wanted to have a good night sleep. All night I had contractions ten minutes and later six minutes apart.  I'd sleep in between them. It was super miserable. I was really surprised the birth went by so fast and how calm I was, but the transition period was the worst I've had in all my deliveries. I have very difficult labors in which I have traditional contractions with back labor and terrible leg pains. The human body can only withstand a certain amount of pain but when a woman is in labor, she surpasses that limit. I certainly felt it during transition and I kept saying, I can't do Ican'tdoitIcan'tdoit. Make it stop. My midwife suggested I go into the shower to help my body relax. I stepped in the shower, immediately shut off the water, got out and let everyone know, "I think I'm crowning!" My midwife wanted me to go into the next room and deliver the baby and started telling her "no" and we had a small argument about that. But once I decided to do it, my body calmed down, much of the pain went away, and after 15 minutes of pushing our baby girl was born! And I said, "It's a girl! I knew it would be!" Daniel and I really wanted a girl! The baby has been nursing non-stop since she was born so I expect my milk to come in at any minute. So with her eating and pooping I didn't sleep much last night either. Today I laid in bed and wondered when I'd sleep all night again and starting plotting for a way to get a full night of sleep. The big question for moms is, Would you want more money or more sleep? Humm...

We love our little family of five. Three girls is so exciting to us. Right now we are teetering between enjoying all our special moments and surviving. I forgot how incredibly special newborns are. So sweet and so tiring! I'll be glad when my body has fully recovered from labor!