I AM WOMAN!!!

I am woman; hear me roar (and groan, and moan, and cry, etc.). Wahoo! I just gave birth vaginally for the first time!! I was in the comfort of my own home, as planned, and I used no drugs and did not have any interventions! We now have a beautiful baby girl. She is joy personified and we named her Ivy Fiona. Levi and Ivy get their names from my maternal grandfather's maternal grandparents, i.e. my great-grandparents Bodily, which is why Levi's middle name is Bodily. Ivy makes sweet little sounds all the time and she is growing like a weed. Sometimes her hair looks like it's thinking about maybe turning red (the grandmas would just die of happiness). 

These two pictures are of Ivy just after her first bath.

 And this is her the morning after her birth. She was born at 8:30 pm on Saturday the 27th of November. She weighed 7 lbs and 8 oz and measured 20 inches long.

She is now 3 weeks old and still seems tiny to me. I think she is now about the size Levi was at birth. She likes to hide her face in my arm or a hat or a blanket when she sleeps. Her baby acne is clearing up. Her cheeks are getting fleshier, as is the rest of her body (good thing, she was a stick at birth!)

Levi loves Ivy. He likes to hold her or give her hugs, comfort and calm her, be sure she has enough blankets, help bathe her, and call her "my sweet boy" (just right at first). Now he has mostly learned to say she and her instead of he and him. He talks about our "little baby" and wants to know where she is and if she's OK. Ivy returns the affection, as much as any 3-week-old might be able to: she watches him and lets him hold her.

 Levi and Ivy meet.

Nathan is a wonderful father for both children. He certainly looks forward to Ivy being able to interact on a larger scale, yet still enjoys holding her and talking with her. He stayed home the first week after the birth and took very, very good care of me. He made sure that I followed the midwife's instructions to the letter, and brought me food and things to do, and changed all the diapers. Even though he may not believe me, I can with conviction say that I have the best husband.

Mom stayed with us for the next two weeks after Nate had to return to work and cooked and cleaned and entertained Levi and even helped me prepare neighbor and friend gifts. We made sugar cookie dough and wrapped it such that it can be frozen for a while if people don't want another treat in the house right now and we included some homemade frosting. Because Mom was helping me, everything got done AND they looked super-cute rather than hum-drum.

Nate's sweet mom, Suzanne, came out to be with me a few times when Mom had to go in to work and that was very helpful. I/we are so very lucky to have both our moms close by and also lucky that they are willing and able to help. I hope I can be of as much help and comfort to my children's families sometime in the future.

The grandmas and great-grandma are tickled pink to have a granddaughter and I enjoy having a girl. So, now we have one of each and I can give the highest recommendation for boys and girls. I love being a mother. I feel fufilled, blessed, favored, lucky, happy. There is absolutely no other thing I would rather be doing.