Nicole Elizabeth

Here she is!!!

Nicole Elizabeth

9 lbs. 2 oz.

19 inches long

Born on June 17, 2011 at 10:55 am

Here's a quick rundown of Friday morning....

We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am where a family friend, Allison Neilson was sweet enough to come in and be my nurse for the delivery.  I got all hooked up then Greg and I just hung around and watched Nick Jr. (yep, that's right, we watched an episode of Bubble Guppies because we missed the other kids!).

Then it was time to head to the operating room and have a baby!!! After a relatively calm and easy delivery Nicole was brought out...at first glance we all said the same thing "WOW, she's HUGE!!"  Greg and the nurses then headed over with Nicole to be checked and weighed while I got put back together.

I was soon informed that I wasn't in fact crazy, and that she was just as big as we had thought...I was cramming 9 pounds and 2 ounces of baby inside!! When you see her, and then me, it really makes you wonder how on earth she could have come from inside my belly!!

Just look at all the baby...rolls and chub for miles!!!!

It was love at first sight...and right away we noticed she looks just like Freddie did as a newborn, but we think she definitely has a female look to her!!  And that hair...the first thing I heard them say when they got her head out was "look at all that hair!" and it's a beautiful dark brown!!!

Just another "first picture..." I will post more pictures of her in the coming days as we have more time.

 In the recovery room after the surgery one of the nurses made Nicole this cute bow for her basic hospital hat!! I LOVE it...such a great idea and we have been using it every chance we get!

Daddy and daughter...When you see them up close together she looks just like him (with a female edge!!).  What an amazing Daddy he is...he makes beautiful children and was so proud of our newest addition!

I love this picture of Nicole, look at that hair!!! I could stare at it and play in it all day!!!  Seeing her on me gives you an idea of just how large her head is!! She loves to snuggle and could not be more sweet, she sleeps just like Karyl and Freddie did in the hospital - which means we should be in for another wonderful newborn experience, just like the other kids!!

And Karyl, oh Karyl....she LOVES...seriously, absolutely ADORES Nicole.  She can't stop kissing and hugging her and just wants to have her all to herself.  She was a great helper with Freddie, but she is going to be a second mommy to Nicole.  They are going to have a special little friendship as they grow up.

And one of my favorite pictures...Nicole about 30 minutes after delivery with the ever amazing Dr. Cvar!! We have a picture of Freddie from his birthday with her too (February of 2009), go back and compare the two pictures - that will give you a good idea as to how much larger Nicole is!!

This whole experience has been amazing...the surgery could not have gone better, the nurses couldn't have been nicer, and Nicole couldn't have been more perfect.  We are blessed to have such a wonderful doctor who has done an amazing job on all 3 of my C-sections and has reassured me that everything looks great and that we are clear to have a fourth should we choose to!!  Greg did an amazing job being there for me and talking me through everything, and compared to the other 2 surgeries this one was probably the calmest and easiest one.

Now we start our new adventure as a family of 5! It amazes me the reactions we've been getting from other parents in the hospital when they find out this is our 3rd child...it makes us smile though because a lot of them are first time parents and you can see the slight panic in their eyes when they imagine having more than what they already have!!

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes...I am well on the road to recovery and definitely feel like I've been blessed again with a quick recovery.  We will post more pictures soon!!