Sorry for the delay

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this, but when I tried updating from the hospital on my phone I ended up losing all I had said. We'll see if this post sounds as good as the one I lost (not that any of you will ever know!) First off, I want to thank everyone for support (even long distance support!) and well wishes. Knowing how loved I am really helped me through the whole process.

Quick synopsis of the labor and delivery (you'll have to be SUPER squeamish if you want to skip this part, I'm not sharing any details I promise). We were scheduled to be induced at 9:30pm Tuesday (8th) night, at 8pm the Women's Center (NWH WC) called us and told us that there was a delay and that they would call when there was room for us. 4:30am the next morning we finally got the call to show up at 6am (turns out, 8 women showed up at 2pm on Tue all in labor! whoa!) By 7am I was all set up to start having labor, I did and I was in the early stages of labor until about 10am and then hard labor until 7:30pm where I was in the pushing stages of labor for 3 1/2hrs! Luckily, our baby (if you don't know the name yet then you'll have to wait until that part of the story happens) has a very strong heart and was able to endure those 3 1/2hrs very well.

When it was seen that no progress was being made (I was fully dilated and baby would crown with each contraction but then disappear back inside between) my Dr. decided to proceed with a c-section, the nurses seemed to be so amazed that it wasn't an emergency c-section.
Oops, let me back up a little, this whole time the baby stayed in the "sunny side up" position (for those of you who don't know, this is a wrong position, still possible in some cases, but by far not the best scenario). Continuing on:
The c-section went amazingly well (although, I swear I felt her head, shoulders, and feet come out of me.... sooooo weird!!!) and Mercedes Grace Matheson was brought into the world at 11:17pm on 9/9/09 (how cool?) tipping the scales at 8lbs 9oz (hence the sunny side up natural delivery being impossible). She'll probably be known as Sadie (as that's what I'll be calling her).

As you can see from the pictures below, she had very full cheeks when she was born and rolls on her thighs (yay for chunky babies!!!) which soon thinned out slightly due to the natural weight loss babies have while mommy's milk comes in. I want to get this posted ASAP to get this information out there so check back often as I'll be adding more pictures and adding captions to the ones below. Also, an apology to Lincoln's family as there are no pictures of them below. Let me explain: visiting hours end at 9pm but if the woman being visited is still in labor the staff will allow guests to stay up to an hour after delivery (whenever that may be). As you can see how late she was born, and the fact that all c-section babies go to the nursery immediately following surgery for at least 30min, and with Lincoln's family living near Phoenix, they left before being able to hold her. My family also left (they live far away as well) but because my family isn't quite as far they were able to come up the following day.

Did I miss any juicy details anyone wants to hear (or give too many?) depending on the info you want to know I may email you back with the answer instead of answering publicly. Once again, thank you for all your well wishes. A special thanks to M3 for the adorable flower arrangement (picture to be added soon); to Alan and Sara for all of their support, and the large :D balloon; and especially to all of our family members (both sides) for all of their love and support.

-Michelle

Lincoln in the labor and delivery room taking one last photo before turning into a father

Welcome Mercedes "Sadie" Grace Matheson into the world!!!

Look how cute and chunky she is! In case you forgot, 8lbs 9oz

The family all together for the 2nd time (with amazing nurse Susan in the back)

Proud new Nana

Labor and surgery wore us both out

Look at the proud new aunt

Proud new grandpa (being called "G-pops"??? you sure?)

Baby Sadie turned onto her side within the first day, is that normal?

Aunt Tacia again, I think this is Sadie's favorite position, every ultrasound we got showed her in this position (well, legs curled up too)

Proud new father and daughter

All ready to go home!

My brother was there but as he didn't hold her (wasn't sure if he had allergies or developing cold) there are no pictures of him