Violet Jacquelyn Anderson

After having backaches and cramps and thinking the baby was coming any minute for five days, by Sunday night I was about to give up thinking she would come on her own. I woke up surprised to contractions 5 minutes apart Monday morning at 3:45 am. I took a shower and packed my bag just to take time to make sure they were for real, we arranged for a neighbor to come over and stay with Cora, and then we headed to the hospital... in the snow! No, not a lot, but icy roads and a bit of snow on the grass. Good thing we weren't going all the way to Salt Lake. It would have been a lot more stressful. We got to the hospital at about 5:00am.

We checked in and got settled, everyone was taking their time because the nurse thought it was still going to take a long a while. She sent us walking around the hospital and said not to be gone longer than an hour. An hour! I thought my contractions were coming closer and closer and more painful. We were gone 15 minutes before I said we had to go back.

We had to hurry quick to catch a picture before the birth!

Nice for us, there was a shift change, and when I told the next nurse the contractions were bad and I felt like I needed to push, she checked and said the baby was close to coming! They hurried and called the midwife and anesthesiologist. There wasn't enough time for an epidural, but the spinal block worked great and was a relief. Violet Jacquelyn Anderson was born at 6:44 am.

She came out loud! And she is healthy and cute and has lots of dark hair. She was 7 lbs, 12 oz; 20 inches long.

Proud daddy

She's been giving us this look a lot the last few days.

Later Monday morning.

Cora came to visit Monday afternoon and was delighted to see the baby. Cora is doing a great job of being gentle with her and not touching her face (too much!). She loves to sit by Violet, talk to her, and always tells us when the baby is crying. Cora will also sit down by me, pat her lap, and tell me she's ready to hold the baby. What a great start! Cora has needed a bit more of my attention than normal (she usually is more centered on Kevin when he's home), but she's doing a great job adjusting to being a big sister!