Baby Cora is here!

Cora Elizabeth Giordano Born at 3:29pm on July 23, 2012 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20 inches long It's been a few days but I finally have a few minutes to write about our sweet baby girl. On Monday, July 23 I went to my weekly OBGYN appointment at 9:20am and found out that I had progressed to a 5cm. I was having quite a few smaller contractions the night before, but they weren't consistent enough. Luckily my doctor was already on-call at the hospital and requested that I come over to have my water broken. Nick and I met at home and took off. The kids were so excited! I was excited to have a more controlled labor versus Josh's.

Before heading out

My last day with a huge baby belly!! So excited to meet our girl. We got to the hospital around 11am. First they put the IV in, then around noon my doctor came in and broke my water. After that they called the anesthesiologist in because of my extremely fast labor with J. The put the catheter in and had that ready to go so that when the contractions got bad they'd be able to put the medication in quickly. Around 1pm I started getting some pretty regular contractions - around every 6 minutes. I asked for pain medication around 2pm and they came in and got that started. I noticed only my leg leg was starting to get numb and nothing was going on with my right leg and stomach area. They had me lie on my right side to see if that would help distribute the medication better, but nothing happened. Finally the anesthesiologist came and and moved the line a centimeter to see if that would help. NOTHING! At this point it was 3pm and I was having some major contractions, pretty close together. Finally I felt the urge to push. The doctor checked me and said, "OKAY! We are having a baby." So, from start to finish Cora was born after only 3.5 hours. I could feel everything and had to push longer than with Josh. Now I am having major back pains like I did with Maya, which we think is from the epidural. Good for nothing epidural!!! We are so happy to have this sweet girl here with us.

Nick sure loves this little girl. He couldn't stop holding her in the hospital and really enjoyed this special one on one time with her.

First bath.

Sweet little angel

Meeting the new big brother

Maya has been such a good big sister. At first she was very interested in everything baby Cora did, who was holding her, how they were holding her, etc. but the novelty of having a very sleepy and stinky baby sister has worn off. She still likes to hold her occasionally, but she isn't as obsessed. Thank goodness!

Cora and Grandma meet.

Family of FIVE

That's all for now. I am happy I got this post done before the baby is 1 week old. Things are going well. The kids are happy and well taken care of, the laundry is mostly caught up, and we just love each other. I know we are in for some rough days/nights ahead, but I'm so thankful that Nick is as supportive and helpful as he is. He truly is an amazing father! We are so happy that Cora made it here safely and that she is a part of our family.