It's a Girl!!! Zadie Marie Rhodes

In case my lack of posts complaining about not having a baby yet didn't make it obvious, our baby has arrived - and IT'S A GIRL!
Zadie Marie was born at 4:15 AM last Tuesday, April 17th.  She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 20 inches long.  What we noticed right off were her deliciously chubby cheeks - so perfect and kissable.  She has dark hair; not a whole lot, but more than her brothers were born with.  Her skin is just gorgeous - I can't keep myself from stroking her face just to marvel at the smoothness.

I complained in my post last Monday that things just weren't happening.  That afternoon, I helped Paul with a project outside, skipping my nap, and still it only resulted in a few twinges - but definitely not "things are getting ready to go" contractions.  And of course, as soon as I told Paul I'd had them while I was helping him, they stopped.  We had discussed whether to send the boys over to his parents' house just in case, but I was feeling nothing, so we decided to let them stay at home.... I didn't want them to feel like we were kicking them out, and have them be away from home for longer than necessary.  (I wanted the addition of a new family member to be as smooth of a transition as possible for them.)
Paul and I watched a movie on TV, staying up until 12:30.  Still nothing happening.  So we went to bed.  At 2:20, I woke up having a contraction.  I looked at the clock, just so I could make note if I had another one.  I had another one six minutes later.  Then five minutes.  Then four.
I got out of bed, because I've heard changing positions can sometimes make contractions stop.  They started coming even closer together.  So I got in the shower - again, thinking a warm, relaxing shower might change things.  Heh.  I had 3 contractions in the span of a five-minute shower.  Paul stumbled into the bathroom while I was in the shower and just looked at me.  I said, "We need to call your parents."
We made it to the hospital by about 3:30.  The nurse told me that when I came in the room, she thought I wasn't that close.  (She didn't see I had 3 contractions while trying to change into my hospital gown and pee in the cup.)  Once I got up on the bed she checked me and told the other nurse, "You need to call Dr. Sinclair NOW."  Then she looked at me and said, "Good thing you weren't planning on an epidural, because you're not going to have enough time to get one."  They started trying to get an IV in me, and by the time my doctor arrived, they still hadn't gotten it in.  They stuck me 6 times before they finally succeeded, just as I needed to push.  I actually could have started pushing before, but I couldn't concentrate with them digging around on me with a needle.  I think my doctor was about to tell them to forget it so we could get that baby out.  (I totally would have been okay with that.... I hate the IV.)
When the doctor broke my water, she told me there was meconium in the waters, which means the baby had pooped while inside.  I wouldn't be able to hold the baby as soon as she was born, they would have to take her over to the table immediately.  It also meant that as soon as her head came out, I had to stop pushing and let them suction out her nose and mouth and clean off her face so she didn't inhale any of the meconium when she took her first breath.  When the final push came, and the baby was out, Paul kissed me and said, "You've got a girl."  It was 4:15, and we'd only been at the hospital for 45 minutes.  I was in labor for less than 2 hours.
Even though Zadie was born at 4 AM on her assumed due date, the doctor told me she was probably actually about a week late, based on not only the meconium, but also the fact that the cord had deteriorated.  So - we were right!  We had always thought she should have shown up a week earlier.
I am amazed, for the third time now, at the instant overwhelming love at first sight a mother can feel when she sees her baby.  I just stare and stare at her, and can't get enough.
Recovery has been really easy, probably because there was no tearing.  Again, as with Jacob, my tailbone was what was sore.... I finally figured it out why:  all of those muscles down there anchor to your tailbone.  Anyhow.
My parents came around 8 (? I think....  It kind of ran together.), and then Paul's parents brought the boys in about 9.  The boys love their new sister.  Nathan especially was enamored with her from the get-go.  They sat on the chair and held her together, and Nathan sang to her the whole time.  He shaded her eyes from the bright light when she was on the bed.  They came back that evening, and then Jacob couldn't get enough of her, touching her and wanting to hold her.  I am so glad they love their sister.

As usual, I was too wound to sleep well during the day.  I got a few naps in.  Zadie and I spent the day getting to know each other, and Paul went home just before lunch to take a nap.  (He was regretting that past-midnight movie. :) ) He came back for supper, and we hung out in our room watching TV.  He headed home around 11.  I had the nurses watch Zadie in the nursery for about 3 hours so I could really crash without responding to every little squeak and grunt from her.
I had told Paul that if this baby was a girl, he had to go buy her a PINK outfit for her to wear home from the hospital.  I had some (quite a few, as it turns out) hand-me-downs, but I wasn't going to wash a bunch of clothes if we weren't for-sure going to need them.  The outfit I took to the hospital was yellow.  Paul came back to the hospital with a pink sleeper, a purple sleeper, and a pink onesie.  He did such a good job.
We got to go home on Wednesday morning.  As the nurse read my dismissal, she's like, "And the baby will do this, but you know that..... And you'll need to do this.... But you're doing that already....."  Apparently I came across as an "old pro."
Zadie has been such an easy baby.  She sleeps SO MUCH.  Maybe this is normal for newborns, but it was not for our boys.  They slept for the first couple days, then they refused to sleep unless I was holding them.  I wondered if she was sleeping too much, but she'd gained all of her birth weight back by one week.  I'm having a hard time getting my milk regulated, because of her sleeping so much, I think.

Jacob continues to adore his sister.  He is always petting on her.  "Me like her hands.  Me like her hair.  Me like her belly button."  Whatever he's looking at, he likes.  It is so sweet.  He's had a snotty nose since the day she was born, and I have a hard time balancing between being thrilled he's so affectionate and adoring (we were worried about jealousy, because he was definitely my snuggler), and being freaked out about him kissing her with a snotty face.
Nathan hasn't been as adoring since life is back to normal.  He's definitely helpful, but he's more matter-of-fact about it.  He'll talk to her some, and occasionally sing to her.  He told Paul he was going to teach her to walk.  I think when she's more interactive, he'll really enjoy being big ("biggest") brother.

In case you were wondering about the name, Paul came up with it clear back when we were expecting Nathan.  I really like unique names (but ones with obvious pronunciation), since I have a common name - there was always someone else with my name.  Paul came home from working one night and said, "What do you think about the name 'Zadie'?"  I liked it.  I added the middle name Marie, which is my middle name, and was also my mother's and grandmother's.  We only had to wait 5 years to use it.
 And that's the story of our precious Zadie Marie.  We are both (all four!) totally in love with her, and I'm pretty sure she has her daddy completely wrapped around her finger already.  And he's totally okay with that.