Alyssa Nicole Harris, aka BabyHarris, has arrived!!
November 16, 2007 at 9:54am
7 lbs 4.3 oz and 19 1/4 inches
As many of you remember, I was blogging while in labor. That was lots of fun! No epidural until 2:30am. I'm not sure many of you know this, but according to the anesthesiologist, I'm "high strung" and I "don't know how to relax" so the epidural took 45 minutes to be put in place. Yes, 45 minutes. Not 4-5 minutes like most people, but actually 45 minutes! Granted, I have a high pain tolerance, but man oh man, I have no idea how people do it without the epidural. I wanted to ring this guy's neck for taking so long!
Anyway, labor was less than 14 hours which is good on a first delivery. Actual pushing labor was only 1 hour 14 minutes. I was on oxygen because the baby's heartrate was dropping during contractions. Well, the oxygen was making me a little light-headed and apparently my eyes were rolling in the back of my head a couple of times and I almost passed out. The nurse told me to relax several times and just let a couple of the contractions go by without pushing. My response?
"I'm not here to rest, I'm here to push and get her out of me!!" They all thought that was funny so I took over. Yes, the control freak in me started having to tell them when I was going to push because they didn't want to tell me when to push as they wanted me to rest. My doctor thought I would be pushing for about 3 hours, and out pops the head. He tells me that she has a ton of hair. That freaked me out because I was expecting bald since I had no heart burn. Boy (girl), does she have a lot of hair... and it's DARK! Mike and I are both fair skinned with auburn (red) hair. Granted, Mike was blonde as could be when he was younger, and I was bright red, but over the years, both of us got darker. I guess she's going to do the opposite.
Her eyes are this very dark blue-grey color, which I know can change in the next couple of years. I have brown and Mike has hazel. I wonder which way she'll go... thus far, she doesn't look like either one of us.
We also had our first scare. She was almost hospitalized for a fever of 100.3 degrees, dehydration and losing 12% of her initial body weight, and 10% is typically the highest end doctors will tolerate. We had to swtich from breast to bottle for a day, and she gained 5.5 oz just in one day, and we'll go back to the breat (too much info?) at her next feeding in a couple of hours.
She's gorgeous and a high acheiver already! She can push off my shoulders and chest, she can stand up and take a few steps on my stomach and chest, and she bobs her head to music. I think the bobbing of her head is because I would beat my stomach like a drum when I listened to music in the car.
Anyway, I could go on and on. Instead, here are some more pictures!!
The really good pictures are on Mike's laptop, and he hasn't transfered them over to our Shared file yet, but isn't she the cutest!!??
By the way, I listed a house 2 hours after delivery!! High strung workaholic?? Nah!!!
Suzanne, Thank you so much!
Ricki, You can move closer... I could always use more babysitters!!
Oh Yaye!!!! What a nice Thanksgiving surprise!!!! Congratulations to you and your hubby! Yes, she certainly is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Many warm wishes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa & Bob Hammerstein
She is adorable! (I had one with lots of dark hair, as well. She was a c-section, and the first thing the doctor said when he opened me up was, "Look at the hair!" Not boy, girl, just hair!)
Yes, there does come that moment when you just want them all to go away and let you get on with things because you're BUSY, darn it! I recognized it from your crystal clear description. ;-)
You're on a wonderful new journey.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!! finally.......
Alyssa is gorgeous, I have an Allyssa too. Note the double ll.
They ask me if I had a name and I said Alyssa, so they asked me how I spelled it and me after JUST delivering !! So I added the LL, well when I saw the birth certificate I was shocked.
So I was going to change it, but when I asked Allyssa she told me no, she like being different.
Anyway, good job and your life will never be the same in a good way. I'm really excited for you Donna.
Donna...
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!
She is the cutest. Congrats to you and yours :)
What a great way to bring in the holiday season.
TLW...ROAR!
Congratulations Donna! Alyssa is beautiful. She'll make you less of a workaholic. It's not a good thing when you have a family. Life has finally begun for you!
Thank you, EVERYONE, for the nice comments. She just had her longer bout of awake time at two and a half hours. She's been exploring and loves to watch the ceiling fan. She can't figure out the big furry thing that keeps licking her feet. She's set to wear her Cowboy's outfit for the Thanksgiving game tomorrow that her Uncle Erick bought her, as he's obsessed!
Thanks again, and everyone's well wishes these past 9 months were definitely heard!
Missy, that's weird that they didn't allow you to change the spelling. When we finally gave them the name, they brought us a bunch of paperwork to proofread before they turned in official documents. I was so scared of her name being spelled wrong, but after staring at it a million times, I gave the thumbs up.
Great pictures, what a cute baby. I am so happy for you.
You? High Strung? Wants to be in control?
Must have been the drugs.... LOL
Wonderful news!! I hope to see her soon!!
Donna. What a beautiful gift! Congratulations and enjoy your very first Thanksgiving with her!
-Meg
Oh Donna, she looks so beautiful and perfect! Welcome to mommyhood! I was one of those mommies who had no drugs. The first one because I had no insurance and didn't want to pay out of pocket for an epidural. Either way I got to the hospital too late to have an epidural for both of them!
She sounds like my son, you are in for the joy ride of your life, keep the posts coming, I am living vicariously through you as my son is a Senior in high school!
Ahhhhh... I've been waiting for more updates. So good to read this. Now tell me, how much has life changed for you? I'm not the over-achiever like I used to be. My baby is my priority now because he needs me now.
Have you started showing houses yet? Or negotiated a contract yet?
I have been waiting for this. Guess I am a little late!
Absolutely, beautiful! You done good, momma!
I'm sorry I haven't responded to everyone, but I've been VERY busy... not just with Alyssa, but I've been working... TOO much!
Last week, I showed houses to two different buyers, and have one under contract. I also had two listing appts, and I should know at the end of this week if I got those listings... AND I'm showing a buyer tomorrow... I managed to take ONE whole week off from appts!! One week is a lot for me!! Oh, and I had a closing on Friday & made the #1 spot in the office last month!
Grandma is enjoying all the babysitting!!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Congratulations and best wishes!
~Maura Gebhardt
Thank you Maura!
This is her new favorite toy. You pull the tale and it rattles and vibrates and the wings make paper noise.
Here is her two year update... yes, it's already been two years!!
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1340458/happy-birthday-i-m-two-years-old-today-written-by-alyssa-harris