My April Fools Baby

These first two pictures are of Alexa today, 5 days old. Isn't she so sweet? She looks just like Cassidy to me. But please, allow me to start from the beginning. I love being induced. I see no reason to go through the worry, anticipation, and most of all, the waiting to go into labor. I prefer to have it all planned out. My bags are packed, my house is clean, my husband has taken the time off work, the children have babysitters...and again, I don't have to wait. My doctor said I could be induced 7 days early, which happened to put Alexa's birthday on April Fools Day. Fun fun. Some people told me it was a terrible idea, that she would come out a boy or something. We went ahead with the induction date anyway.

I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. that morning and thought for sure I would have a baby by early afternoon. Well, the April Fools jokes began early, because as I was showering at 5:45 that morning, the hospital called and told me they were really busy and would need to push back my induction. Great. Then when I got to the hospital, they were out of Pitocin. Really? A Labor/Delivery ward out of Pitocin? That's just sad. I finally got started at NOON. The epidural didn't work quite right, labor was taking FOREVER, they had to keep increasing my Pitocin, the list went on.

Finally, it was time to push this baby out. I heard someone say that her cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times, so I started crying. My doctor kept telling me to push, but I couldn't, because I thought she was dead. I just kept crying. But they finally convinced me and we got her out.

Baby Alexa was born at 8:35 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. We were very excited. She was healthy as could be, so apparently the cord around her neck was just another of nature's April Fools Jokes on Mommy.

No delivery story is complete without the "lovely" first Mom and Baby photo, messy hair and all: First Bath:Cassidy and Ethan were so funny when they met Baby Alex the next day. Ethan stood in the corner for a few minutes and wouldn't go anywhere near her. They both warmed up after a few minutes and couldn't stop stroking her hair.Baby Alexa's first time in clothes:When I bought these little jammies, I thought there was no way she would ever fit into them. But I brought them to the hospital, just in case she was tiny. So far they are the only thing I have found that truly fits her tiny body.The other day she soiled through an outfit, so I sent Daddy upstairs to change her. I assumed he would bring her back in jammies, but he came down the stairs and said, "Look, it's her first time wearing a dress." What a cute hubby I have. He is SO in love with Alexa. I just thought this was sweet, my little family hangin' out:Ethan found the camera and took this of his face:Ethan fell asleep on the couch yesterday, so we took a picture. Then we thought, hmm...he can't hurt her when he's sleeping, right? So we stuck Alexa on him:

Baby Alexa is happy, healthy, and adorable as can be.

And the rest of us are just trying to catch our Zzz's when we can!

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p.s. if you thought these pictures were cute, please continue on to the next post. Cutest pictures EVER.