Baby Pepper

Hey everyone! So, as I am sure all of you know since it happened 7 weeks ago and we've talked to you... and been more diligent about adding photos to Facebook... Our sweetest ever baby girl was born in January! She is so adorable and so fun and we are learning how to be parents! Hopefully we are doing an okay job. Here we are with Baby Pepper in the hospital.

Some people have requested the story, so here it is: I had been dilated to a 4 and 100% effaced for two weeks, having been told by my doctor that she was going to pop out any second, which she didn't... for two weeks. So, the morning of the 19th I had my doctor's appointment (Again) and he was shocked I hadn't had her yet (Again). Since I was so far along he said he would induce me a week early, that coming Friday. Since I was group B strep positive, he said that actually it might be best for her to just stay put for a few days so we could have more control over the situation and make sure I had enough time for my antibiotics. Well, I think little Miss Pepper just has a mind of her own and doesn't like to be told what to do. She took that as her personal invitation into the world and I went into labor that night!

I was contracting 5 minutes apart for a few hours, but they didn't hurt much. My doctor had said to go to the hospital if they were regular though, since we didn't know how fast my labor would progress. So, we went... and I was monitored for two hours, contracting 3 minutes apart the whole time, but I wasn't progressing. So, they sent me home. Went to sleep at 2:30 and woke up at 5:30 in major pain. I think I was ready for the epidural right then. But, given that I had just been sent home (that's so embarrassing), I stayed in bed for thirty minutes trying to rough it out. Finally I thought I might be assisted by a warm shower, but when I stood up I felt a gush of blood. It wasn't my water breaking, just some blood. So, off we went to the hospital again. We drove much faster this time! T.J. would speed every time I had a contraction and then slow down in between. It was so funny... well, you know, looking back. I wasn't laughing at that point.

I got checked in immediately when we arrived (around 6:30 a.m.) and I was ready for my epidural. Saint John, my anesthesiologist upon whom I conferred Saint-hood (although if I'd known how quickly she was planning to pop out, I just might have opted to skip the pain meds...) arrived and I was quite comfortable at 7:30. Come 8:50 I was pushing, and at 9:11 a.m. Miss Pepper Ja'net made her grand entrance into the world! 6 lbs. 11.5 oz. and 20 inches long. T.J. was scrubbed in to help catch, but just as the doctor was showing him how to grab they head, she literally just flew out and plopped onto the table! Daddy dropped her. How will she ever trust him to catch her now?!

My labor went really quickly, so I didn't have enough time for even a half a dose of the antibiotics (can't they just give them to you in advance since they know you need them?! Someone should really work on that). Pepper's heart rate was dropping during labor so the respiratory specialists were there for the delivery. She did fine at first, but after a minute just stopped breathing. It took them 20 seconds to get her to breathe again. They were concerned she had an infection, so I only got to hold her for about a minute before they whisked her down to the nursery. T.J. got to go down and be with her for a while, which was nice. I didn't get to see her again until about 4 hours later.

She was worth the wait. :) Here she is one day old and so alert! She has been this way from the beginning, as you can see. She is so wide-eyed and just doesn't want to miss a thing.

Here she is reading her first, but definitely not last, Dr. Seuss book with Daddy in the hospital. She loves reading books!

Now she is 7 weeks and growing so so fast! Her teeny little hands are getting bigger and she is chubbing out. It makes me sad to see her growing up already! But, she just gets cuter and cuter and we can't get enough of her! She is a really good baby and sleeps pretty well once she gets to sleep. Sometimes she just fights so hard though to stay awake. She is awesome though and has only sprayed me with a jet stream of poop once!

Here we are, the Christensen trio, on her blessing day

And giving a little smile after Church. She is learning to smile and it is quite possibly the cutest thing I have EVER seen! The best ones are right when she wakes up in the morning. I love love love it!

With mommy and daddy...

And just being so sweet...

We have about one BILLION adorable pictures of her. It's hard to just pick a few to post. So, you should all just come visit us and meet her in person. :)